Outrun the Storm
by Seal of Doom
Summary: A target, a bunch of escapee children, and a key in the shape of a cat. Kanaya has a secret that she thought was well hidden. But when her party is sabotaged, it's up to her young employees and daughter to send a warning. The trick is not getting caught...and also figuring out how to get to Siberia, Russia before the ultimate storm arrives.
1. Identification

**Name:** Kanaya Maryam

 **Age:** 26

 **Occupation:** Fashion Designer

 **Status:** Wealthy

 **Relationships:** Widow

 **Family:** One daughter; Sister, Porrim

 **Threat Level:** Dangerous

* * *

 **Name:** Nepeta Maryam

 **Age:** 7

 **Occupation:** N/A

 **Status:** Wealthy

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** Mother; Kanaya Maryam

 **Threat Level:** Target if necessary

* * *

 **Name:** Equius Zahhak

 **Age:** 14

 **Occupation:** Attendant to Nepeta Maryam

 **Status:** Higher Bodyguard

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** Older brother; Horuss Zahhak; Father (in Custody)

 **Threat Level:** Risky

* * *

 **Name:** Karkat Vantas

 **Age:** 14

 **Occupation:** Attendant to Nepeta Maryam

 **Status:** Lower Bodyguard

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** Older brother; Kankri Vantas (deceased); Father (deceased)

 **Threat Level:** Minor-Risky; varied

* * *

 **Objective:** Detain Kanaya Maryam for questioning

 **Orders:** Use force if necessary

 **Objective:** Obtain whereabouts of Maryam's vault

 **Side:** Obtain key to vault

 **Objective:** Destroy threat to Her Majesty


	2. Party Preparations

**KANAYA:**

"I want each table to have a vase with the Lilies coupled with Lilacs and mint. And don't forget we changed the cloth to dusty purple instead of white because of the garish look stains tend to have on it," Kanaya waves her hand at the entire grand room. Mauve curtains made of the finest silk are already held in attention at the windows and along the ceiling. The chandelier had been polished and brightened. The orchestral arrived early and were now currently setting up and practicing this evening's selections. Everything is almost complete.

"Miss Maryam, would you like to open the windows at the beginning of the party, the middle, or the end?" Her current chief planner, a young girl by the name of Aradia, stands at attention nearby making notes on a clipboard and marking things off.

"The middle is a great idea. Perhaps open them during one of the songs?"

"I'll see what can be arranged then ma'am," Aradia smiles pleasurably, marking one last thing off with a loud dot and holding the clip board close to her chest. With that she nods and walks off to attend to other planning needs.

"Hey, Miss M." Kanaya turns around to address a new speaker. "I've finished up with the last of the security details."

It's the son of an old friend, Sollux Captor. She'd done him a favor when he turned up one day saying his father and brother had disappeared and given him a job in Tech Security. He'd taken to the position quite well and never failed to surprise her with a lot of sass.

"Excellent," Kanaya beams at the boy. "When your shift and Aradia's ends then you may both attend the party if you'd like."

"Really? That's a sweet offer Miss M, but I don't really do parties. Aradia might show though," Sollux politely declines her offer, though he sounds quite pleased to have received it in the first place. Of course he also knows that it happens to be because he was lucky enough to actually get a nice enough boss. Most places nowadays have poor working environments with harsh rules. Kanaya prefers a work space that is something like her living space, and that is a familial setting.

Kanaya laughs gently. "I've told you that there's no need to address me so formally."

"I think calling you Miss M. just works better is all," he shrugs.

"Alright, suit yourself," Kanaya reaches out and pats his shoulder. He nods and turns to go back to his work.

For a moment Kanaya finds she had nothing to do. All the preparations that she could possibly think of have been made, and none of the maids are willing enough to let her help out, though she wishs the would. But this casual moment of boredom does not last very long when she hears someone else call her name.

"Mommy!" She turns around to see her daughter running towards her in delight. Nepeta Maryam had decided to wear her polka dot doll's dress with a matching bow, and she simply looks adorable in it. Her stuffed cat, Miss Dutchess, is ever firmly in her grip. Her higher bodyguard, Equius Zahhak, trails not far behind her.

"Nepeta!" She says warmly, kneeling down to embrace the little girl. They hug briefly before the child pulls away to babble about tonight's events.

"I can't wait to wear the dress you made me mommy. It's super cute and I love it so, so, so much! And I've been practicing my curtsies too. Do you wanna see?"

Kanaya grins, feeling Nepeta's excitement rubbing off on her. "Of course darling."

Nepeta lifts the edges of her dress up slightly and crosses her feet at the ankles. Daintily she lowers herself down. Not once did she teeter over.

"Bravo for the princess! Bravo!" Kanaya cheers and claps. Nepeta rises gracefully. A big smile lights up her face, along with a modest blush.

"I did it, Equius! I didn't fall over!" She turns her attention to her attendant happily. The boy, only 14 years old, has become more of her best friend rather than a bodyguard, but it was fine. He performs his tasks exceptionally well while simultaneously keeping the child occupied.

"Indeed, Miss Nepeta. That was marvelous posture," he compliments with a little bow. Nepeta's spirits heighten and she begins to bounce slightly.

Turning back to Kanaya, Nepeta asks suddenly, "Mommy, do you think Mr. Karkat will dance with me?"

The little girl's modest blush quickly shifts towards tomatoes. Kanaya smiles a knowing smile. Her daughter certainly didn't hide her feelings very well. Ever since she had hired a boy named Karkat Vantas to be Nepeta's lower bodyguard, the little girl had been positively smitten with him. Though unsure as to why, she found her daughter's crush adorable.

"If you ask him nicely I'm sure he'll be more than happy to dance with you," Kanaya pats Nepeta's head slightly. The little girl hugs her kitty toy tightly, hiding her enormous grin in it.

Equius shifts around a bit, coughing slightly into his shoulder. She knows that he does not agree. They both know that Karkat can be a bit...moody so to say. Parties like this one only seem to increase the tense atmosphere that clings to him like a plague. But the important thing is that he has finally managed to find a way to keep his displeasure in check and manners up to date. In that reference she has no doubt that he will accept Nepeta's request to dance. Doing so happily is a debatable matter however.

"Mr. Equius, if I ask you really nicely, will you dance with me too?" Nepeta twirls around as she asks Equius.

"Of course, Miss Nepeta," Equius does not hesitate to respond. The little girl claps her hands and becomes even more bouncy. She takes off in the direction of the dance floor in a moment of excitement and begins to waltz with Miss Dutchess. Kanaya giggles at her daughters enthusiasm.

"Miss Maryam," Equius clears his throat. "How long would you like for Miss Nepeta to participate in the evening event?"

Kanaya thinks for a moment. The party is supposed to last well beyond the little girl's bed time, so it won't do to keep her up so late. Yet because it is not often the child got to come to parties then it seems only fair to let her stay up a little bit longer than usual. She simply would have to go to bed at the height of the party.

"If she can stay awake long enough, she may remain until 9:30."

Equius gives a slight bow and moves to go fetch Nepeta. "Very well."

"Oh, and Equius," she says, remembering her offer to the other employees as well. "You and Karkat are allowed to join the party if you wish."

"Thank you, Miss Maryam, but I do not expect to participate much unless Miss Nepeta wishes it so."

A sly grin pulls up the corners of her mouth. "Not even if Aradia were to ask you for a dance?"

She caught him. Equius turns a vibrant shade of red, more so than the tomatoes that Nepeta sports whenever the subject of Karkat is brought up. He stammers about how he could possibly allow for such a minor exception, but there will be no promises. Kanaya chuckles as Equius hurriedly excuses himself to go and attend to his charge.

 _Oh kids,_ she sighs happily to herself. There is something endearing about their young love problems. Thoughtfully she reflects upon a time when she too used to agonize over the little things. Worrying about whether she looked nice enough and if her sweetheart would notice and pay her a compliment. Or wondering if she'd be able to make at least one of her daydreams come true.

But it had been a long time since she had once had those vague fantasies about love. But not long after Nepeta had been born, she had lost that filling promise and was given an aching heart in it's place. Even now after 7 long years. But she filled it up as best as she could with her work and raising a beautiful daughter. And finally it seems that she might just be getting a small break, though she isn't sure yet how it will play out.

She idly watches Nepeta ask Equius to dance, and the two spin around to the music. The boy looks quite odd with Nepeta. He is exceptionally tall, and even at age 14 he looks like wrestler. When she hired him it had only been with the intent of being Nepeta's higher body guard, and as a favor to his older brother who had performed many exquisite favors for her. But he had proven himself to be a bit more than what he appeared. He is kind, underneath his stern demeanor, and he could keep up with Nepeta's seemingly inexhaustible energy supply. It didn't take long for the duo to become thicker than thieves. And an even shorter amount of time for him to become part of the family. The bond between him and her daughter is priceless.

In that moment Kanaya experiences a parenthood moment. She imagines her daughter growing up with Equius, and how their bond would bloom like a rare flower- so strong and pure. It makes her heart fill, and for one moment she wishes they could stay children forever. But even she knew that is an impossible feat.

For nothing lasts forever.

* * *

 _Er... I know this is kind of a rough start but I'm working on it. Hopefully it's intrigued one of you enough that you're like, "Okay what'chu gonna do next?" And anyways, reviews if you please._

 _Disclaimer: Dun own Homestuck_


	3. Dance with Me Please?

**NEPETA** :

The little girl hums and twirls a finger through her hair. She admires the dress that her mama made her in the mirror. So pretty and cute! It's an olive green color, her favorite, and it reminds her of a doll dress; it even came with a matching bow that looks swell in her orange hair. There's no way Mr. Karkat _wouldn't_ tell her she looks lovely. It is a special evening after all.

Nepeta grabs her little blue bag (in the shape of a kitty's head of course). In it she comfortably situates Miss Dutchess amongst her other very necessary items. (This includes spare candy in case she needs a boost later or money to buy more candy. There is also a small cats head globe that her mommy had entrusted her with, saying it was a very important item that only she, Nepeta, could take care of.)

"Miss Nepeta, are you ready?" Equius calls gruffly through the door. She gives herself a little twirl and giggles at the way her dress spins around her. The party is going to be so much fun!

"Coming!" Nepeta skips to the door and opens it excitedly. Equius and Karkat stand at attention and bow slightly at her appearance. Mommy had made them charming suits as well for this party, because everyone deserves to dress up even while they're working.

"You look lovely, Miss Nepeta," Equius praises. His compliment is nice, but she always gets them from him. As well as a lot of lectures but that's old news. Her eyes nervously flicker over to Mr. Karkat. He isn't even looking at her.

A glum feeling sneaks in with the happy ones. Mr. Karkat always seems to find better things other than her to look at. But she can't stop right now and let it get her down! She'd ask him to dance at least once tonight, and his eyes would _have_ to be only on her, right?

"Thank you, Mr. Equius!" She smiles up at the tall boy. "Shall we go to the party now?"

"If we have to," Mr. Karkat mutters. His face screws up in annoyance and he holds out his hand the same time Equius does. Nepeta giggles and takes them both, a giddy sensation lifting her up again.

"Of course, silly!"

* * *

 **EQUIUS:**

Miss Nepeta had been asked to dance by a kindly old man, someone he faintly recalls as her distant relative, right away after her arrival. Equius finds himself alone with a troublesome partner, a doubled effort to keep his charge in his sights, and a nervous feeling with the amount of people at this party. If there is one thing he could concur with Karkat, it's that parties were bothersome.

"You should have complimented Miss Nepeta in her dress," he remarks casually.

"Why the fuck do I have to? You said it first so it should just count as double for me as well," Karkat tenses in agitation. Really he shouldn't be putting so much pressure on his colleague, as Karkat highly deplores events such as this, but he is trying to be considerate of Miss Nepeta's interests. Although he doesn't approve of her little infatuation with the lower body guard, she is only a child.

"Language, Mr. Vantas," he warns. "We're surrounded by Miss Maryam's guests, not our friends."

Karkat exhales through his nose angrily. The last thing he wants to be doing right now is lecturing him, and undoubtedly Karkat does not want to be lectured, but it's always difficult when it comes to this point of a conversation.

Equius sighs. "At least try to be more polite to her, will you?"

Karkat fidgets for a moment with his neck tie before grudgingly nodding his agreement. Relief fills a small space inside of his mind, and it leaves one problem solved out of a whole bunch.

"I'm going to walk rounds," Karkat says, already walking away to complete said action. He sighs again and turns his attention back to Miss Nepeta.

The little girl twirls around and smiles at the old mat. She seems to be enjoying herself. Nearby he spots Miss Maryam conversing pleasantly with a blond woman. All around him party goers mill about or dance to the sweet music floating in the air. He briefly wonders what it is that always upsets Karkat when it comes to parties. Certainly they are a drag to organize, and when one has to keep an eye upon someone small in a crowd of many, but they do become rather enjoyable once they're in full swing. Why, even when one has an enjoyable partner to be dancing with. This thought leads him down a very tempting path of imagining himself dancing with Miss Aradia. He begins to perspire a little, and he quickly pulls out a deep blue handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes it away. Now simply isn't the time to indulge himself in fantasies! He has a job to perform after all.

The song ends and there is a brief pause. Miss Nepeta curtsies to the old man and then skips back over to where he stands. Another song begins. Before she can make it all the way over, however, another man steps in her path and asks her for a dance.

His eyes narrow ever so slightly at the man. He does not appear familiar in the least. The stranger is tall and broad shouldered, which gave him great cause to bend over to properly address Miss Nepeta. His chestnut hair stands out strikingly amongst many of the dark haired guests. The rearview image of the man's jawline shows that he is...rather emotionless. Uncaring. Miss Nepeta, looking rather uncomfortable, tries to politely decline him. The man is not taking no for an answer, and he grabs her hand while simultaneously dragging her back towards the dance floor.

Equius steps forward with a frown and the intent to apprehend the harasser. However he stops when he sees that Miss Nepeta has her free hand raised in signal to him. She doesn't wish for him to interfere.

Agitated by the guest's rudeness, Equius watches carefully to make sure he does nothing to Miss Nepeta.

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

This party is poorly timed, in his opinion. If it had been earlier in the day he might not have felt as grouchy, but he wouldn't say for certain. Something has felt off kilter with the _idea_ of this party alone. He can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

" _Hey KK, how's the party going?"_ His best friend Sollux beeps into his ear. His hand flies up automatically to swat at the sound. For some reason comm links cause a different form of irritation to him. _It drives him absolutely nuts_.

"Terribly. There's people everywhere," he mutters. "You didn't do your job very well."

" _I did it just to piss you off and make you fall madly in love with me. Is it working yet?_ " Sollux cackles at his jibe.

"Oh yes Mr. Captor," he responds mockingly. "When this is all over come and sweep me off my feet and ride with me into the sunset, will you?"

" _Karkat, are you even working?"_ Equius's deep voice crackles over the line. He scowls even though he knows the other boy can't see him.

" _Nothing to jump his bulge about Zahhak. Just trying to lighten up his mood now,"_ Sollux says casually in defense.

Equius sighs in frustration, but moves onto different topics. _"Karkat, please tell me you see the man Miss Nepeta is dancing with currently. There's something about him I find bothersome, but I can't quite place my finger on it."_

Karkat stops in the middle of his rounds and looks for the little orange haired girl. He spots her quickly along with the man Equius had to be talking about. He squints, but can't see or sense whatever it is Equius is talking about.

"You're over reacting," he brushes off the concern for possible danger. Nepeta is fine. Yeah she's still a kid but he's seen the results when someone messes with her. Brat is like a natural born predator or something.

But as he thinks this, he notices something startling with some new arriving guests.

"On second thought you should probably snatch her away for a dance as soon as this song is over," He turns around to look for his boss, Miss Maryam. After locating her by the refreshments he quickly strides over to her.

"Sol, I want you to get a scan on the dude dancing with Nepeta. I just saw two more people that look _exactly_ like him."

" _Roger_ ," Sollux taps out of the link to go do some research. Maybe he's the one over reacting now, but identical triplets is too coincidental for showing up at this party. The feeling he had managed to forget lept to the surface and he began to feel slightly anxious.

Karkat approaches Miss Maryam, clearing his throat to garner her attention. She turns around and smiles warmly at him. Her evening dress sparkles in the light of the chandelier like the night sky. It looks gorgeous on her. He can't, despite his ever rising levels of panic, help but return the gesture with a small smile of his own. He shakes off just as quickly as it appeared though.

"What is it dear?" Miss Maryam insisted on treating him like her son for some reason, and under normal circumstances he'd get onto her case for doing it, but pressing matters call.

He considers how to best consult her on this matter. God he is such an idiot. He should of had this laid out from the start. Maybe he really is just over reacting if he can't get his shit together. He's about to tell her never mind when Sol buzzes in again.

Reflexively he swats his ear again. _God_ he hates this device.

" _KK, there's readings of more than just three dudes with identical features. The whole room is full of them. Geez it's almost like you're surrounded. And I can't find any data on these guys at all."_

He freezes.

"Karkat, what's wrong? You're making a frightful face," Kanaya steps closer as she whispers to him. "What does Sollux have to say?"

"Miss Maryam, what the hell-," He catches himself and regains his manners before continuing. "Did you know that there are a bunch of people in here that look completely identical and have no records for being invited to this party?"

Kanaya frowns. No. Of course she couldn't have known. How stupid of him to of accused her. The woman looks around nervously before leaning in a little closer and gripping his shoulder tightly. "Where is Nepeta?"

"She's dancing with one of those guys I was talking about, and I apologize for being rude, but that doesn't answer my fucking question," he hisses. Karkat honestly doesn't mean to be rude to his boss. She is a good lady. But she' also scaring him.

"I'm afraid that it might be too late to explain. Just promise me now that you'll see to your job as Nepeta's body guard, _please_."

He begins to protest in confusion when his comm buzzes again.

" _WHAT?_ " he demands, turning away from Kanaya.

" _This stranger is being a leech. He hasn't let Miss Nepeta go and refuses to let me intervene,_ " Equius gives him the watered down version of the problem upon hearing the poison in Karkat's voice.

Karkat growls. "I'll be right there."

Turning back to Kanaya he says, "There's no way I won't do my job, but you owe me a god damn explanation."

With that he hurries off to assist his charge.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

"Mr. Lowry, I'm feeling a bit tired. I'd like to go sit down for a while if you don't mind," It's not a lie. She doesn't like doing a lot of dancing all at once. Especially when she has pinchy shoes. She also believes that dancing is an art that needs to be timed accordingly to the needs of the dancers. But the stranger who calls himself Mr. Lowry does not seem to heed this fact, or any of her pleas.

She noticed many of Equius's attempts to step in and steal the dance, for how could she not see the tall boy? His perseverance has been rather obvious. But for some odd reason Mr. Lowry won't relent. In fact, after he had first initially asked her to dance he hadn't said a word to her, and his movements had become methodically robotic. It's like he had become oblivious to the world around him.

Then she sees Mr. Karkat coming in from the side. She beams at him, though yet again he appears not to notice. Still, he approaches them anyways and that alone fills Nepeta with relief.

He taps Mr. Lowry on the should just as the song ends. Mr. Lowry seems to not notice, and he pulls away for a mechanical bow. Mr. Karkat scowls and makes his presence known by clearing his throat loudly and tapping his foot. Finally Mr. Lowry takes notice of him.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but I believe it is time you find another dance partner. Miss Nepeta would like a moment off her feet as her shoes are quite tight and pinch at her toes,"Mr. Karkat addresses Mr. Lowry smoothly, simultaneously shepherding them off the dance floor and out of the way. Nepeta couldn't help but swoon slightly at the way Mr. Karkat handles the situation. He is like a gallant knight!

Mr. Lowry does not say anything, but his grip on her hand starts to hurt.

"Sir, if you don't comply you will have to be removed from the party," Mr. Karkat's annoyance is quickly shining through. "Harassment of other guests is strictly prohibited."

 _I didn't know there was a rule like that_ , she thought. She keeps her lips tightly sealed however. If Mr. Karkat is lying then he is currently in the act of getting away with it. And it's all for her.

Reluctantly, Mr. Lowry releases his vise like grip on her hand. She takes it back gratefully and hides it behind her, just in case he might try to take it back again.

Stiffly the guest walks away.

"Thank you Mr. Karkat," she mumbles, scuffing the toes of her show along the tile. Her cheeks grow really warm.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," he says brushing it off. "Now let's go sit down before he thinks I'm bluffing."

They pass Equius on the way and Mr. Karkat tells him to take over his rounds. Equius isn't very happy but he obeys anyways. As he leaves he gives her a very light and somewhat awkward pat on the head.

Carefully, so she doesn't wrinkle her dress too much, she sits down on a chair at a nearby table. Mr. Karkat sits down next to her. Well, more like he slouches backwards in a grumpy and tired demeanor. She rubs her hand anxiously, not even noticing the already forming purple marks where Mr. Lowry had held it so tightly.

The conversational silence became fairly awkward. She doesn't know what to say to Mr. Karkat that won't put him in a fouler mood. Yet she can't just _not_ talk.

"Mommy did a good job on the decorations, wouldn't you agree Mr. Karkat?" Nepeta fidgets with her bag while staring at the flowers on the table.

"Don't call me 'Mr.'," he grumbles. "It's too formal for a guy like me without a social standing like yours."

Her head ducks in shame. _See? He got mad. Maybe you should just keep your thoughts to yourself huh?_ She berates herself internally.

"I'm sorry," And yet she still keeps talking to him! But it would have been even ruder of her to not apologize for her mistake.

Karkat sighs in irritation. "No don't be. There's just too much going on all at once and it's just bugging the shi- crap out of me."

She looks over at him and sees that he is finally looking at her. Her heart gallops like it had entered in a mini race last minute as she makes eye contact with him. Her cheeks grow warm. Suddenly overwhelmed with her desire being fulfilled she looks away and back at the flowers.

"Hey," She jumps slightly, startled that he's still speaking to her. This is the longest conversation she must have ever held with him! She turns back to him again. "Let me see your hand."

Not knowing which one he is talking about, she shyly offers him both. He takes her right one and she could of sworn his touch was electrocuting her. He gently traced over spots with a concerned look on his face. Is she dreaming?

"That bastard was hurting you wasn't he?" he mutters. It sounds so concerned. Did he really care for her that much?

 _No!_ She lightly pats her face in substitute of slapping herself silly. She can't be thinking like that! It's a sign that her hopeful imagination is getting away from her, and she can't let that happen. Mr. Karkat is only doing his job and taking care of her. That's all it has to be.

Yet despite her resolution to do the opposite of what she wants, the sudden bolster of confidence causes her to blurt out, "Mr. Karkat will you dance with me? Please?"

She is on fire. Dying. In an eternal abyss of embarrassment. Oh how could she? Now he's going to be mad for certain.

"You really want to after you just sat down?" he asks in total confusion. But it isn't a no. So she quickly nods her head while keeping her eyes in her lap. Mr. Karkat sighs.

"Alright," He stands up and she does the same. Carefully he leads her onto the dance floor, and her heart leaps in giddy relief.

* * *

 **EQUIUS:**

" _Hey Aradia, are you going to the party?_ " Sollux makes casual conversation over the comm link. Under normal circumstances he'd be lecturing the techie for slacking off while working, but at the mention of Miss Aradia he keeps his lips sealed.

" _Yeah I'm almost done getting ready and then I'll head over for a little bit,_ " Miss Aradia answers. He begins to sweat nervously, and he pulls out his handkerchief again. Equius wonders what kind of dress she will be wearing. Surely she'll look lovely in anything.

 _Stop_ , he commands himself. Thoughts like these will only distract him from his job. He focuses again on his normal rounds.

" _Aradia I don't think you should go to the party. Weird shit is happening and I don't want you getting hurt,_ " Equius pauses mid-step. He remembers what Sollux had said earlier about them seemingly being surrounded. If Sollux is telling Miss Aradia to skip the party because of danger, then he should be taking action and getting Miss Nepeta out as well.

But he also needs to consult Miss Maryam, as he too would like to know what exactly is going on. It takes little effort to find his boss in the crowd. He is fairly tall after all. Carefully he weaves his way through party guests and makes his way over.

* * *

 **KANAYA:**

She waits for Equius to come and question her the moment she see's him coming towards her. No doubt he'll pick up where Karkat left off. As much as she needs to explain what is possibly going on, Nepeta has to get out of here. This party is no longer safe.

"Miss Maryam, may I have a word?" Equius finally makes it to her and is wiping his brow repeatedly. She nods anxiously.

"I know what you're going to ask and I'm afraid there is simply not enough time to explain much of anything. But I will tell you now that you need to hurry and get my daughter out of this place immediately," She carefully and quickly instructs Equius on what he needs to do. His brow furrows and he begins to wipe his entire face.

"Do you remember the cabin that's a couple miles from here?" Equius slowly nods his head. "Good, take her there and I will meet up with you as soon as I can."

"But Miss Maryam-"

"Kanaya Maryam you are under arrest for treason against the Queen. Surrender now and no harm will befall any of the party guests here tonight," Kanaya whirls around and stares down the barrel of a gun. The stranger holding it pulls back the safety with a click.

"You have to the count of three until we take you by force. One...Two..."

* * *

 _And here shall the chapter end :3 Mwahahaha_

 _Disclaimer: Homestuck not mine._


	4. Evade and Escape

**EQUIUS:**

"You have until the count of three until we take you by force. One...Two..."

He pushes Miss Maryam out of the way and shoves the strangers arm down. The gun goes off and shatters chunks of marble floor. Tiny splinters shred through the pant leg of his suit and sting his skin. People around him scream.

"Equius Zahhak, do not interfere or regret your actions," The stranger drones the command out. He doesn't heed it because it is not coming from his superior. Instead he snaps the man's arm.

"This...!" he gasps. The man had made no reaction to his arm snapping. Instead he simply stares down at metal and wires poking through his suit. A sticky white synthetic stains the arm of the jacket.

The guests around him enter a higher state of panic as more strangers around them pull out guns. Miss Maryam starts to move off without him, shouting for her daughter as the crowd delves into chaos.

Equius yells for her to stops, but cannot run after her as the stranger suddenly grabs his arm with an utterly painful grip.

"Equius Zahhak you are under arrest for aid in the escape of a now fugitive Kanaya Maryam. Surrender-," He grabs the man's head and brings it down hard on his knee. A shudder runs through him as he feels the man's face crumple underneath him.

The exoskeleton-for that's all he can think to call it at this point as it is clearly not a human- falls to the floor. He whirls around in search of Miss Maryam, or even Karkat.

Then he hears a terrifying scream. It's so high pitched and utterly scared. Only a child or trapped animal can make that sound. And the only child present at tonight's event is Miss Nepeta.

"Miss Nepeta!" he yells over the cacophony. "Karkat!"

" _Yo Zahhak, they're trapped on the dance floor!"_ Sollux buzzes in through the comm link, though it's practically impossible to hear him at the moment. Yet Sollux is another set of eyes, and he needs to take advantage of that.

"Sollux, locate Miss Maryam," he commands. A gunshot resonates through the air and more people cry out. They surge towards exits, pushing him away from the dance floor.

Struggle as he might, he cannot push past them!

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

She screams as Mr. Lowry lunges at her. Mr. Karkat pulls her out of the way and the stranger falls clumsily to the floor. He picks himself up and turns to look at them with the most blank expression ever.

"Nepeta Maryam you are to be put under the custody of her Imperial Highness until further notice. Please accompany me willingly or I will have to continue using force." Mr. Lowry drones the command out as if it were sufficient enough to make her comply.

"Like hell she's going with you, ya creep!" Mr. Karkat kicks Mr. Lowry's face. They both gasp as his foot goes almost all the way through with plenty of ease. Nepeta covers her eyes in horror.

"Karkat Vantas if you persist in interfering with legal affairs you will have to be arrested for treason," Mr. Lowry says, sounding like he is talking through a pillow. Mr. Karkat jolts backwards, dragging Nepeta with him.

"Come on, we've gotta get out of here!" he yells. "Sol, secure us an escape route!"

Nepeta clutches the edge of her dress and runs with Mr. Karkat to the tables. What is going on? Where is her Mommy? What on earth is Mr. Lowry talking about? What about Equius, where is he? What if both him and her Mommy get hurt?

"Nepeta? Nepeta where are you?" She looks over her shoulder and sees her Mommy searching wildly through the crowd.

"Mommy!" she shouts. Mommy spots her and weaves through the crowd so quickly one can almost think the people were actually water. Mr. Karkat stops and crouches down, pulling her and shoving her under a table.

The fabric of the cloth lets in little light, and somehow lessens the chaos from the outside.

"Stay here until I come back. I've gotta open some doors and take care of some creepy ass bozos that think they can just do whatever the hell they want," Mr. Karkat pants. She nods and seals her lips to signify she will be quiet too. He nods and then disappears, the table cloth falling back into place and waving slightly.

Her heart pounds as she clutches fistfuls of her dress and shakes. Suddenly alone she finds herself close to tears. Another bang, more screaming. She whimpers and covers her ears. _Please just be a bad dream! Please just be a bad dream!_

Someone runs past the table and she stiffens. A moment later the person comes back and lifts up the tablecloth. She squeals in terror.

"Nepeta, darling, it's me!" She looks up and sees her mommy. Without thinking much about it she lunges and wraps her arms around the disheveled woman. Mommy's arms snake around her tightly and they scoot back under the table. Nepeta begins to cry.

"Shh, shh. Be strong little kitten," Mommy pets her hair and she shudders, trying to stop the tears. Mommy's right. She has to be strong. What would Mr. Karkat say if he saw her crying? Probably to toughen up and bite back.

She pulls away from Mommy and wipes her eyes. _Be tough! Be tough! Be tough!_

"Nepeta listen to me very closely," her Mommy sounds urgent, so she pays very much attention. "You have to do everything I tell you. It's the only hope we've got."

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

He ducks as the fucking clone of the hour swings a fist at him. Of all the things to happen that are annoying this takes the _motherfucking cake!_ He just knew something bad was going to happen, and the universe has seen fit to prove him right for once.

"You picked the wrong douche to mess with, Fucktard!" He rams into the man's gut with his shoulder and throws him onto a table. Since he knows that these things are most definitely _not_ human then he certainly doesn't feel the slightest bit sorry for him or the fact that he is about to have a very smushed face as he brings a chair down on top of him.

Shrugging it off, Karkat runs through the tables to the windows. The damn things were supposed to open at the height of the party but now that plan's gone to shit.

There's a blast and something that feels like fire grazes his ear. Glancing back he sees Clone 271 or whatever the fuck pointing a gun at him. He dives as he sees the trigger being pulled again. It causes him to slide within a few feet of the windows, and luckily behind a table as well.

"Sol, what's the status on that fucking escape plan I'm being shot at for god's sake!" he shouts into the comm link. Another bullet fires and hits the window as he peeks to see RoboTerminator von Asstwat's proximity.

" _Open the fucking windows you dipshit!_ " Sollux yells back at him " _Go through the garden and to the front. Aradia's hijacking a car._ "

"Oh please tell me she isn't driving it too!" he lunges for the door, grabbing the handle and swinging it open to let another bullet make an exit.

" _Well unless you expect your fucking grandma to make an appearance then yes she's driving! I'll meet up with you guys_ ," The comm crackles as Sollux disconnects from the line.

* * *

 **ARADIA:**

" _AA, change of plans_ ," Aradia lightly presses at the comm link in her ear. Sollux sounds a bit breathless.

"What do you mean?" She had turned off the link previously to finish getting ready. Sometimes conversations would get a little too distracting for her and she'd forget her original task. Tonight was a party with a personal invite, and she didn't get very often to treat herself to something like this.

"T _he party is under siege right now. Miss M. wants everyone evacuated. KK's bringing Nep and Zahhak, you're gonna hijack a car_ ," The speedy explanation leaves even her winded! She looks at the building however, and understands. People are already streaming out and screaming bloody murder.

" _Miss M. has a car that she always keeps parked outside, you know which one_ ," Sol continues with the plan. " _Hot wire it and meet KK and the others at the garden entrance. I'll join up with you after I unhook this FUCKING COMPUTER!_ "

He shouts that last bit and it causes her to wince slightly. "Alright Sol, how long do you expect all this to take?"

Explanations as to why there is mass panic latter, plans now.

" _Give everyone fifteen minutes, otherwise we're all fucked,"_ Sollux says, then the comm link crackles as he disconnects. She hikes up her dress, a pretty black with red trim at the end, and sprints in heels towards the general direction of cars. She leaps out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a wild driver swerving around trying to get away from the master complex. She can't remark much on their skills, however, because her own are just as bad. 14 years old and not the most learned driver at all. And yet she knew how to hot wire a car. A funny and strange twist of irony in her opinion.

She crosses the lawn and stops in front of a grey sports model car. A superb edition, but also a challenge. This is Miss Maryam's business car, and it's going to make it a tight fit for everyone. Especially Equius, who is pretty big for his age.

She has work to do though, and no time for dallying thoughts.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

"You have to keep the globe safe, my dear. It contains a key to my vault inside of it, and if the enemy gets a hold of it then the future I have hoped for you will never come true," Mommy pets her hair, tucking it behind her ears. She doesn't understand everything, but she gets enough of it to clutch her purse tightly to her chest.

"You're going to the summer cabin and wait 1 day for me, alright? If I'm not there by then you have to find Miss Lalonde or Mr. Ampora," Nepeta nods her head in understanding. She doesn't like Mr. Ampora though, so she'd try for Miss Lalonde instead. But that's only if Mommy doesn't show up, which she will!

"When Karkat returns you will go with him, alright?"

She nods again. Mommy hugs her, kissing her forehead.

"I love you, Nepeta."

Suddenly everything is bright, and the table itself is gone!

"Kanaya Maryam, you are under arrest for treason against the Queen," Mr. Lowry stands in from of them, pointing a gun at...her! Mommy shoves Nepeta behind her and growls at Mr. Lowry.

"Don't you _dare_ point that at my child!"

"Surrender and she will not be harmed," There is another click and Nepeta turns around to see yet another Mr. Lowry pointing a gun at her. They are trapped!

Both Mr. Lowrys' repeat themselves in synchronization. Nepeta huddles closer to her Mommy. They reminded her of some bullies at her school; so very tall and bigger than her. But unlike the bullies at school, she can't beat them up for picking on her.

Something catches her eye and she peeks behind Mr. Lowry. Mr. Karkat is returning! He sprints, dodging tables and giving a war cry as he vaults onto Mr. Lowry's back. He forces the gun up and it fires. Another shot comes from behind her and she screams, thinking Mr. Karkat had been hit.

But he's fast, and uses the other Mr. Lowry as a shield. Mommy uses the opportunity to kick down her Mr. Lowry just as the Karkat-Lowry goes down. Good gravy there are just so many Mr. Lowry's!

Karkat grabs her hand and pulls her up into his arms so he's carrying her.

"Miss Maryam come on!" he shouts as he begins running.

"I'm right behind you!" But her Mommy is moving away from them. She tries to say something, but fails as Mr. Karkat moves too quickly, jostling her around.

They enter the garden, cool night air practically stinging her arms and cheeks as if the temperature change is too dramatic for her body. Mr. Karkat swerves to the right and hides behind a bush, struggling to not pant so loudly. He puts her own and stands defensively in front of her.

"Of all the fucking moments to get stopped in an escape it just _has_ to be right as we're about to get to the fucking car! Stupid, shitty luck to your god damn job already!" he mutters fiercely under his breath. She waits tensely with him as a Mr. Lowry rounds the corner.

"Nepeta, I'm going to hold him back as long as I can. The car is literally just right there, run and get in it. I'll be right behind you," he turns his head slightly to look at her. It almost feels like he's saying goodbye. It's exactly what Mommy said just as she ran off in the other direction and split ways with them.

She squeezes her eyes tightly and whispers, "Please be safe Mr. Karkat."

* * *

 **ARADIA:**

She sparks the wires and the machine purrs to life. Sitting up, she brushes some hair out of the way and puts her hands on the wheel. Her foot finds the pedal and she floors it. The car lurches forward and Aradia spins the wheel around wildly to avoid various objects such as running people, cars, and lawn ornaments. Somehow she avoids crashing the car within the few yards she had to drive.

She sees Karkat running out of the windows, carrying Miss Nepeta. Simultaneously she catches sight of a well taylored looking man striding quickly and professionally towards them. It seems Karkat sees the man too, for he detours behind a bush.

Over the comm link she hears him swearing about luck needing to do it's job, and then telling Miss Nepeta to run for the car. She leaps between the seats and opens the back door, sliding over the leather like an eel.

In mere moments Karkat launches himself at the attacker, tackling him to the ground and struggling to keep him there. Miss Nepeta darts around them and runs for the car. Only too late for them both does she see the second mystery man as he leaps from the shadows and grabs the little girl by the arm.

She screams and kicks at the man. Aradia struggles to slide out of the car and help her.

She is almost free when a mammoth of a boy barrels into the man, ripping him away from the child.

* * *

 **EQUIUS:**

Since the crowd would not allow for him to pass one way, then he can only merely take the roundabout. He hears over the comm link that Miss Aradia is sporting the get away vehicle while Karkat and Miss Nepeta rendezvous with her. He will meet them at the gardens within record time, he vows. And Sollux will be the final one to arrive.

Equius maneuvers through the panic and bolts down an empty hallway. There is a short cut that will take him to the front without going through the main entrance- ah here it is. He practically smashes the door down and enters yet another corridor, albeit smaller than the other one. Bursting through that door leads him into the night.

" _Nepeta, I'm going to hold him back for as long as I can. The car is literally just right there, run and get in it. I'll be right behind you,"_ Karkat's voice crackles over the link. Not even a mere moment later he sees his smaller colleague launching at the opponent with a vicious screech while Miss Nepeta runs towards the waiting vehicle.

He begins to lope toward her, picking up his pace as he sees an attacker from the shadows. The man grabs Miss Nepeta by the arm and she yowls in terror. With a bolt of energy he clears the distance with ease and punches the man, smashing his face in and removing his mangy hands off his charge with a furious bellow. Tossing the robotic corpse aside he scoops up Miss Nepeta and hurries to secure her in the vehicle. Miss Aradia stretches from an awkward position and helps transfer the little girl. Once that's taken care of she slips into the driver's seat again and anxiously waits to hit the gas.

Equius turns around again to help Karkat, but he sees that it's not necessary. Sollux had somehow miraculously made it there in time, and is currently helping Karkat up and panting hard. In on arm he holds onto a computer. In his hand is an odd device buzzing and sparking.

"What are you waiting for? Get into the fucking car!" Karkat yells, wiping his face and moving towards him with Sollux close behind. He complies and squeezes himself into the tight space. Miss Nepeta wiggles around until she finds a spot on his lap as Karkat jumps into the back with him. Sollux slides into the passenger seat and slams the door shut.

"Where's Miss M?" Sollux asks breathlessly as he looks back for a headcount.

"Mommy says to meet her at the summer cabin," Nepeta huffs and puffs, shaking. She jumps as a bullet ricochets off the hood of the car. Without further prompting Miss Aradia jumps the gun and speeds off.

* * *

 **KANAYA:**

The ballroom has been evacuated of all but her and the drones.

"Surrender, Kanaya-"

"Fine, you've got me," she snaps. It's getting irritating to listen to them repeat the same thing over and over again. And at the moment the phrase is highly pointless as they have her surrounded.

They close in with their guns raised and pointed at her. She puts her hands on her head and kneels to the ground. It all seems to mimic a normal arrest.

Once they have her in position they freeze and wait. The doors to the ballroom, which they had sealed off, open as if in dramatic flourish to whomever is arriving on the scene. Kanaya stifles a gasp.

Black heels click along the marble floor. Tight fitting leggings accentuate toned legs, and a leather jacket with cerulean lining meets with it. Blond hair curls over and around the woman's shoulders and leads up to the pompous smirk of an old rival.

"Kanaya dear it's good to see you," the beauty coos. "The Queen sends her regards."

"The pleasure is only all mine, _Vriska_."

* * *

 _Aya aya aya! Who knew writing from multiple povs during an action scene could be so much fun! I think I'm getting a better feel for this story and I've done a bit of research on their destination so I'm feeling pretty good rn. Thanks to TipsyMisty for being my first reviewer on this story~_


	5. Morse Message

**Name:** Sollux Captor

 **Age:** 14

 **Occupation:** Computer Security Technician

 **Status:** Commoner

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** brother; Mituna (missing); father (missing)

 **Threat Level:** Risky

* * *

 **Name:** Aradia Megido

 **Age:** 14

 **Occupation:** Social Gathering Planner

 **Status:** Commoner

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** N/A

 **Threat Level:** Unknown

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

The atmosphere in the car is intense. The lack of space is a pain. He himself is in so much pain for various reasons. His ear, for example, is on fire, yet he doesn't dare touch it for fear of seeing blood when he pulls his hand away. His ribs hurt from the blows he'd received from the drone attacks, and his knuckles felt worse than bruised.

This has been a fucking _terrible_ night.

He looks over at Nepeta to make sure she's alright, remembering that he's not the only one who earned a scare from the sabotaged party. The kid is huddled close to Equius and breathing quickly through her nose. She stares wide eyed and vacantly at a point between him and the seat. She's going into shock and _that's_ not good.

"Nepeta," he breaks the tension, and suddenly all the focus is on him. "What exactly did your mom tell you besides 'go to the summer cabin'?"

She stares at him, slightly bouncing with her increased breathing. Her mouth opens to say something, yet nothing comes out. He hesitantly reaches out and touches her. She jumps and is suddenly back to reality.

"M-mommy has a secret that's gonna get her into trouble," she whispers coarsely. "She gave me a key a long time ago and said I had to keep it safe. She told me that it opens her vault. Get to the summer cabin and wait one day for her. If she's not there then we need to find Miss Lalonde or Mr. Ampora."

She slips again into another reality and her words become straightforward and monotone, repeating what she had been told. Suddenly she sits upright very quickly, tears pooling again in her eyes. Nepeta grips his hand in both of her little ones very tightly. "Mommy will be there right? She'll come and make it all better, right? She's gonna be okay, right?"

She begins to hyperventilate. Her grip on his hand feels like she's trying to strangle the life out of it. Big drops pour down her cheeks and onto the party dress she had been so excited to wear earlier that day. It causes him to regret even asking her anything in the first place.

Sollux shifts in the front seat and stretches his arm backwards, patting Nepeta's head. "Breathe Nepeta, you're mom's gonna be a-ok, right guys?"

"Of course, Miss Maryam is a resourceful woman," Equius rumbles, jumping in to comfort the child. Aradia says something to the same effect and he merely nods in agreement. In a situation like this, that he has created no less, he has absolutely no clue what to say that won't turn into an empty promise.

Nepeta manages to bring her breathing back to normal with a little bit of coaxing, but she doesn't stop crying. Equius lets her cry into his shoulder until eventually she falls asleep.

"Fuck," he mutters. "That still doesn't tell us anything. Why the hell were clones attacking the party?"

"One of them said Miss Maryam was being arrested for treason. I never took her to be the type though," Equius puts his two cents into the equation of nowhere near the fuck solved.

They ride in silence after that, only occasionally making the odd noise as Aradia lost control of the vehicle every now and then. Her driving, surprisingly and very much to his relief, is mostly level. Within a relatively decent amount of time they have driven far away from the manor and were turning down a dirt road that lead up into the hills.

The only light they have comes from the car, and it shines on a small cabin as they pull up to a halt on the winding road. Miss Maryam occasionally brought them with her on mini vacations to this place. Then it had looked whole and welcoming. In the shadows of the night, though, it looks like it belongs to some horror movie and it makes him shudder.

Aradia stops the car and parks it. She cut the engine, and the silence envelopes them. He wishes she would turn the car back on so at least there would be some background noise to combat the pressure of his loud thoughts.

"I'll go scope the place and make sure it hasn't been compromised," he says as he opens the door and slides out, leaving no room for objection. He feels stiff and numb. Lightly shaking it out, Karkat carefully makes his way up to the cabin. His shadow looks demonic, cast out far and long before him. Though he most definitely won't admit it out loud, he's spooked.

Karkat climbs up three short steps and peers through the windows. White lace curtains block most of his view, and even what he can see through it is impossible to make anything out on the inside. There isn't even a moon to be shining through the windows tonight.

He bends over and picks up a key from under the doormat. Then he unlocks the door, twisting the knob and letting it swing in slowly.

No bullets come firing out at him, so he dares to step inside. Entering a defensive stance, his fists bunched up and in front of him, Karkat walks into the cabin cautiously. Again, nothing jumps out at him, so he dares to find one of the lamps and turn it on.

The small room lights up, revealing a couch and two arm chairs sitting stoically alone. The crocheted rug sits underneath a tiny table meant more for holding a playful meeting of toys rather than anything large. Right next to this area is the semi-kitchen and another door leading outside. Straight ahead is the bathroom and big bedroom where a lot of people can sleep in. He does a roundabout sweep of the place and finds it clean.

He steps back out of the cabin and waves at everyone to come in.

* * *

 **SOLLUX:**

He sets up his laptop on the mini table, typing in commands to reboot it from his hasty shut down. He's been itching to get at it and look into the people Miss M had said to look for if she didn't show. He could have done it while they were on the road, it wouldn't have posed him a challenge, but he thought it would be considerate if he waited for Nepeta to not be around for a little bit.

Zahhak puts Nepeta in the bedroom to sleep for awhile, and he is now currently taking up one of the arm chairs to examine his leg. KK's on the couch, his coat and shirt gone so he can study bruises to his ribs and make absolutely certain nothing is actually broken. AA had broken out the first aid kit and is busy cleaning the cut on his ear.

"Ow _fuck!_ " Karkat hisses, jerking away from her while clutching his ear. He repeats himself again while wincing at his chest.

"It's better that you be saying ow now and have it be clean rather than saying ow later and it's infected," Aradia chides, packing up and then moving over to examine Zahhak's leg.

He keeps his focus to the monitor. The screen blinks to life after he enters the final commands and the menu pops up. He clicks the identity app and begins to search for either a _Lalonde_ or _Ampora_ in Miss M's contact files.

He frowns at the Lalonde report. "This doesn't make any sense. There was a Rose Lalonde at the party, how is it we're supposed to- oh wait hold on."

He speaks out loud, not really caring if he actually gets a response or not. It's just what he does when he's working. KK leans forward and examies the findings with him.

"Rose has a sister named Roxy. Perhaps because Rose had been at the party then Miss M was talking about her? Or had she been referring to both?"

"I don't know, but they both live in fucking D.C. That's a couple of states to cross," Karkat sighs. "What about the Ampora douche muffin?"

He taps out a few more commands and Amora's file comes up. " _Eridan Ampora, fashion designer, same age as the Lalondes' and..._ he lives all the way in London what the fuck?!"

Unless he's supposed to be in town sometime then there's no way in hell they're going to be able to go continent hopping.

"What the hell is Miss Maryam trying to tell us? Go on a goose chase and still not get any fucking answers?" Karkat rubs his face in tired annoyance and leans back out of sight.

He leans back too and prepares to fully joins his friend in reflective sulking when something catches his attention. Sitting back up again, he clicks on the map of the estate. One of the lights is still flashing. That means one of the rooms still has security cams in commission. It just so happens to be the ballroom.

"Hey guys check this out," He clicks on the room and the screen splits into four different views that cover the entire area. Aradia returns and Zahhak scoots his chair foward. He can't produce any sound without headphones, but maybe just watching might put things into a little more context into place.

There are a lot of clones milling about in the room surrounding two people as they talk at a table. One he recognizes as Miss M. The other is some blond broad he doesn't recognize.

They seem to be having a pretty intense discussion.

"Hey wait, what's she doing there?" KK leans forward and points at the screen. Sollux clicks it and zooms in so that the focus is totally on Miss M. Her eyes flicker briefly at the camera, and then she begins drumming her fingers on the table.

No...she's not just drumming them. It's too rhythmically inconsistent. No what she's doing is-

"Morse Code!"

* * *

 **KANAYA:**

"Come on Kanny dear, all you have to do is tell the Queen what she wants to know and she'll let you go free with your daughter," Vriska leans in close, lifting up Kanaya's chin with a long, slender finger.

Kanaya glares at her. "It's not so easy if you think I'm going to be fooled like that. What's in it for you?"

Vriska doesn't do anyone's dirty work without demanding some sort of fee. Not even the Imperial Witch's bidding would convince her to do something unless she had been rewarded handsomely.

"Well," Vriska smirks and pulls away from her. "Of course the Queen has to strip you of your status as punishment, if not outright kill you. Your business has to go to _someone_ to keep maintaining it."

Her eyes narrow ever so slightly. Vriska has been her rival for many years now in the fashion industry. She had known the other woman was jealous, but not to this extent. Sure Vriska's level of success has been well, but it's never been as good as her's. So if they payment in return for her services resulted in control over another product line then it's no wonder she took the job.

"And I would be correct in assuming you'll get what you want anyways even if I do not comply to any demands?"

"Bingo!" Vriska winks and cackles. She sits on the table in a somewhat provocative pose as if this would do anything to convince Kanaya to reconsider.

Kanaya sighs in agitation and looks anywhere but at Vriska. Quickly she steals a peek at the security cams. They were all still on, perhaps because Sollux did not have time to shut everything down. She considers risking a morse message on the off chance that he is watching. Surely he'd get it and would know what to do with the information. But with all the specially prototyped drones hanging around she wasn't sure if it will be a good idea. It'll be bad if they come a step closer to finding her vault.

Her vault. The source of all her current problems. The thing that Vriska is not so casually or successfully trying to get information out of her for. Hers is only one of many. It contains something vital that can very well upsurp the Condescension from her thrown. A thing the Resistance very well needs to remain hidden.

"Hey," Vriska snaps her attention back into focus. Kanaya mimics the frowning expression she sees.

"Where's that brat of yours? The cat kid. I wanted to say hello."

"Hopefully you'll never set your eyes on her ever again," She responds offhandedly. Her attention becomes focused on the security cam behind Vriska. It moved.

It has to be Sollux. He's the only one in charge of her computer security, and he's damn good at his job for a 14 year old boy. In a split second she makes her decision, trusting that he will do the right thing.

 _My vault is in Siberia. Warn the Resistance._

"It's a shame, 'cause that makes her a fugitive now. You know the the Imperials' don't respond kindly to fugitives, just like traitors," Vriska examines her nails intently. A wicked smile plays on her lips. She flashes Kanaya a pitying look.

Kanaya clenches her jaw tightly and stands abruptly. The drones around the room spring into action, aiming their guns at her.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve? Well, you know you can just solve all this by telling me what the Queen wants to know," Vriska relaxes even further, waving the robots back. She acts like she's about to crack the nut and get to the good stuff.

"I'm amazed you'd think I'd buy all that bullcrockery," she responds in disdain, sitting back down. "The Queen should know very well that if she kills my daughter she will never get what she wants. I suggest you use a better strategy, _Vriska dear."_

Vriska frowns heavily, clenching her hand into a fist.

Check. Mate.

* * *

 **SOLLUX:**

"Siberia?! What the fuck, why does she have a vault that's on the other side of the goddamn globe? And why's she telling us to warn the Resistance instead of getting, oh I don't know, a _fucking professional?_ " Sollux pinches the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses. He thought he knew his boss and how she rolled, but apparently not.

"Wait, so you're telling me," Karkat dramatically points at himself. "is that we're supposed to go find some other rich ass people so we can go to Siberia and warn some not so rich ass people about some dramatically mysterious problem?"

"That's not at all what he said but Karkat I think you just solved some of the mystery surrounding this problem," Aradia says thoughtfully.

"Warn the Resistance...," Zahhak says slowly as if he might possibly be thinking and mulling that phrase over. "As in, the Resistance that's been in the news lately for opposing the Imperial Queen?"

"No, the Resistance of the Space Time Continuum," he snaps. " _Yes_ the one opposing the Imperial Queen!"

It's not like there's been a line up of Resistances applying for the job or anything!

 _Still..._ he calms down slightly and thinks things through a little. The thought of Miss M being apart of this organization is fairly odd. She honestly just does not strike him as the type. Not in a million years would he have guessed it because she just seemed too... _normal_ for that kind of thing. Maybe that's why she's been able to get away with it for however long she's been doing it.

"And just how exactly are we supposed to get anywhere? Yeah we've got a car, though it's cramped as hell, but none of us are even of legal age to be driving. And not only that but they're probably going to be looking for us since they made a huge deal about stopping us," Karkat continues on and lists several more problems with this picture. "We don't have money, our clothes will make us stick the fuck out, and what the hell do we even know about Siberia anyways?!"

"All very valid points, and I'm afraid I don't have an answer to any of them except to just do what Miss Maryam said to," Equius shakes his head. Of course he's the one that chooses to follow orders.

"Oh, _great fucking plan_. Alright it's settled. We'll just ignore all these painstakingly obvious variables and just go to Siberia. It'll JUST like following the yellow brick road to Oz. Oh wait I've got another question: Where in the everloving fuck in Siberia is this vault?!"

"Karkat be quiet you'll wake Nepeta up," Aradia hisses suddenly, standing to peek over the couch and through a crack that had been left in the bedroom door. After a minute of intent staring and silence she sits down again.

"And what about her? She's only 7! This is already too much for her. I mean, she had a panic attack for crying out loud!" Karkat whisper hisses angrily, gesturing back to the bedroom. Sollux slumps a little against the couch. He feels bad for the kid. Too much change in one night is bad enough, going country hopping might very well make it worse.

"Let's talk about this in the morning or something," he sighs. "It's been one hell of a night already, no use running in circles trying to reach a decision."

Everyone nods solemnly and settles into an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

She sits rigidly on the bed, clutching the sheets so tightly her hands hurt. Her little heart pounds madly against her chest. She heard everything when they had thought she was asleep, and it terrified her.

Large tears form and blur her vision. Her Mommy wasn't coming. They would all be going far away. Everything is going all wrong!

Nepeta bites her lower lip to keep it from wobbling. She has to be tough! Be tough for Mommy and warn the Resistance for her! Be...

She hiccups softly and brings the blanket up to her face, curling up. Her breaths come out in short bursts and she shudders uncontrollably. The tears burn her eyes.

 _It's no use,_ she thinks glumly. _I keep telling myself to be tough but I'm just too scared!_

She pulls away from the blanket and reaches for her stuffed cat.

"What's that?" she whispers to the toy. "You say everything's gonna be okay? We just need to do what Mommy asks?"

The doll remains silent. But the conversation she holds with the stuffed animal makes her feel a little better. A little safer. She sniffles and rubs her eyes dry. "That's right, Mommy's tough, and whatever she can do I can too!"

She feels a slight boost of confidence thinking about how strong her Mommy is. It gives her courage. _If Mommy can do anything, so can I! Being scared is alright, but I have to do what Mommy says no matter what._

She decides this firmly, laying down the law in her mind. She lays down again and tries to go back to sleep. She's got to be ready. Tomorrow, after all, is going to be a long day.

* * *

 _Woah really late update. Sorry about that. I've been really busy all week and I'm going to busy next week too. *curse my procrastination abilities* I'll try and update again but I also have to actually write the next chapter down too. Also, if anyone that reads my story The Vampire's Pet is reading this story, the same case applies to it in terms of updates._

 _Thanks to the two guests who reviewed and gave me tips! I try and keep things as relatively accurate as possible, and also I type really fast so it's hard to catch mistakes sometimes before publishing it. Thanks for catching that!_

 _Disclaimer: Dun own Homestuck_


	6. Extreme Highway

**EQUIUS:**

He arises before dawn. Well, really it's more like he stops trying to sleep and just decides to finally get up. Equius looks around and sees Karkat nodding off by the window. Standing up and stretching, he goes over and lightly pats the other boy's shoulder. Karkat jerks and nearly falls over.

" _What?_ " he hisses.

"I believe we should be making our way out of here, as it is apparent Miss Maryam will not be joining us," he whispers back, ignoring his partner's rudeness. "We can decide on a course of action while we make our getaway."

"I see your point Equius, but you should probably wake everyone else up too and inform them," Karkat stands up and pushes past him to wake Miss Aradia and Sollux. Taking his cue he goes to see to Miss Nepeta.

Quietly the door swings open when he pushes it. The bed is empty, though messily attempted to be made. He peeks around the door and sees Miss Nepeta trying to stuff her evening dress in a mini dresser. She must have found her current outfit, a brown skirt with knee high stockings and green sweater, in there as well. Miss Maryam had insisted they leave some spare clothes here in case they made a mess and didn't have anything else to change into. It seems that they must have forgotten a few things from their last visit here.

Equius steps further into the room and clears his throat. "Miss Nepeta? What are you doing up?"

The little girl's head pops up and she stares at him in surprise. "I...um...couldn't sleep anymore."

"Oh."

He stands there awkwardly and watches as Miss Nepeta returns to shoving her dress in the drawer.

"I found clothes for you and Mr. Karkat. I think Sollux might fit into one of Mr. Karkat's shirts, but then again he probably doesn't need to change like us. Miss Aradia might fit into some of Mommy's things...," The little girl trails off in her absent minded babble and finally manages to shut the dresser. She turns around and pulls a pile of clothes forward, picking out something for him.

"I'll go and give these to everyone else," She hands him a tank top and cargo shorts before exiting the room.

He frowns slightly as he watches her leave. Last night had been quite an ordeal for her, he hopes she's not bottling anything up. At some point he'll have to talk with her, perhaps before they leave.

With that he shuts the door and changes from his rumpled and slightly torn party suit.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

She waits patiently in the semi-kitchen, searching for food in the cupboards. Her stomach growls and she rubs it. Nepeta spots a box of crackers and pulls it out, opening one of the bags and eating one.

They're kinda stale, but because they haven't been opened until now then it's not too bad. Slowly she nibbles on one and stands up. The sun is beginning to peek through the little window above the sink. She munches on a cracker and thinks, _I'm probably never going to see this view ever again am I?_

"Hey," She turns around and sees Mr. Karkat standing behind her. The plain grey shirt looks really nice on him; it contrasts well with his dark, messy hair. She looks down slightly to hide her blush, cursing it's incorrigible timing.

Mr. Karkat sighs and kneels down. Softly, possibly the quietest she's ever heard him, he talks with her.

"Look, we've got a pretty big problem going on right now. I know that it's been a lot for you, and you need to understand that it's only going to get worse once we leave. I need your input on this though, since we've already talked about it last night while your were asleep. What do you want to do?"

She looks up in surprise. He's asking her for her opinion? Mr. Karkat stares at her intently. Immediately, uncontrollably, she can't help but think about how she loves his eyes. They're such a pretty blue. It's enough to spark just a little bit more courage in her and chase off the melancholic feelings.

"We've gotta do what Mommy wants us to," She states this boldly. Mr. Karkat inhales sharply just a little. His blue eyes cloud slightly with concern.

"Nepeta, you don't have to force yourself to-," She puts her hand on his mouth to make him be quiet.

"Mr...no, um, Karkat," She stumbles over saying his name, remembering how he had gotten mad at her for calling him _Mr._ "I am scared. I can't say I'm not because that'd be a lie, but... If we don't do this, who else will?"

Slowly he reaches up and takes her hand off his mouth. Heat blooms in her cheeks as she realizes how long she had been touching him. He remains quiet, watching her. Trying to figure her out. Nepeta holds his gaze as steadily as she can, trying to not let the blushing show more than it already has.

After a moment he stands up and pats her on the head. "You're one hell of a fighter, kid. I'll give you that."

She looks down and studies her shoes. Mr. Karkat had praised her!

This only seems to fuel the flames of determination to go through with this mission. She can't disappoint anyone!

* * *

 **ARADIA:**

Aradia opens the door to the car and begins the mental preparation that comes with a day full of driving. The trip last night has given her some hope for her driving skills. Perhaps she can improve.

Everyone walks out of the cabin carrying blankets and the little non-perishable food they could find. Sollux still remains in his clothes from yesterday. Then again it seems like he hardly ever changes out of his TECH shirt anyways. He really seems to love it. Karkat and Nepeta look dressed for early fall while Equius looks a couple seasons ahead, or behind, whichever is preferred. Then again the boy sweats tremendously, so perhaps he'll be just fine.

She makes a move to get into the driver's seat when Equius calls out to her. "Miss Aradia, if you wouldn't mind, will you please let me drive?"

"What, you have a problem with her driving Zahhak?" She rolls her eyes at Sollux's unnecessarily aggressive defense.

"I-it's not that," Equius stutters apologetically. "We are not that far from the city, and while Miss Aradia is doing splendidly on empty roads, I don't think she is quite ready for city driving yet."

She has to concede that he does have a point. It's one thing to drive along on a road with no traffic, and another to drive surrounded by others with a different set of laws and rules to follow. If they want to go unnoticed as much as possible then it's for the best that she does not drive. And besides, she knows that Equius has had actual training beforehand in operating a vehicle, even though he too is underage.

"Alright, I don't mind," she says quickly, throwing a pointed stare at Sollux to keep him from arguing. He just sighs in exasperation and gets into the passenger seat. She moves out of the way and hops into the back with Nepeta and Karkat. It's a little cramped, but it's probably better now that Equius is in the front seat.

Equius shuts his door as soon as he gets in. She notices how he checks his mirrors and even repositions them a little. Perhaps she should also be taking note of how he drives so that way if anything were to happen then she'd be ready to take over.

Aradia pays close attention as he puts the gears into reverse and to how he moves the wheel around, checking over his shoulder to make sure he hits nothing. Then, once they are fully turned around, he shifts gears to Drive and takes off down the dirt road.

"Sollux, can that computer also double as a GPS?" he asks.

Sollux opens his computer and types in various commands. "Yeah, I'll set it for Lalonde's address. It won't talk so I'll direct you as best as I can. It shouldn't be too hard at the moment though, just get onto the highway in the city and follow it."

Equius nods, his grip shifting and tightening on the steering wheel.

* * *

 **EQUIUS:**

They enter the city limits just as the sun starts it's climb towards noon. He lightly applies pressure to the breaks to adjust to the speed limit. The back of his neck feels sticky with sweat, and he can't shake this pit in the bottom of his stomach. It will be unfortunate if they were to get caught.

 _We just have to make it onto the highway,_ he rationalizes. _The clones will most likely only have surveillance in the city. Once we're on the highway we can relax._

He repeats this to himself like a mantra. It eases some of the pressure off his nerves, but only barely. He checks the rear view mirror to observe his other passengers. They appear tense and alert, much how he feels. His focus returns back to the road and he listens to Sollux direct him towards the highway.

He turns down the road and his heart rate spikes.

"Shit!" Sollux hisses and ducks his head. "Guys act like you're asleep but don't show your faces!"

Sollux takes off his glasses and leans against the window, doing his best to keep his face hidden, even moving his hair out of place.

"Nepeta, your hair!" Karkat says in panic.

"Here's a blanket," Aradia shoves one of the blankets they brought with them over and the back goes quiet again. He glances around, spotting a pair of sunglasses. Equius grabs them and shoves them onto his face. He hears a cracking sound and sees little lines from the corner of his eyes. Drat he broke them!

Nervously he slows to a halt at a temporary toll booth, a clone already waiting at the ready in front of him. Another walks from the booth to his side and taps on the window. His fingers slip as he fumbles to roll it down.

"Is there a problem, sir?" He asks in the deepest, manliest voice he can manage without sounding too fake. It's a good thing that being nervous actually helps quite a bit with that.

"Where are you going and how many are in your party?" The clone stranger holds up a badge that informs Equius that he is speaking to an 'Agent Lowry'.

"My family and I are going out of town to visit my late wife's family," he answers with a slight tremor to his voice. The lie feels heavy as it leaves his mouth. How is it that anyone can stand this feeling? He feels the sweat starting to form on his brow, and he desperately wants to pull out his handkerchief to wipe it away.

Agent Lowry leans in just a little to try and get a glimpse into the backseat. Equius casually shifts into his way.

"License and registration please," Agent Lowry holds out his hand expectantly.

 _Shoot!_ He should have seen this coming. His gaze flickers to Sollux and he regrets not asking him to do something about that.

"Sir, license and registration please. If you fail to produce the required materials then I am going to have to insist that you step out of the vehicle," Agent Lowry's voice turns hard and cold, the same kind of robotic tone entering his voice as from the party. Nervously Equius looks behind him and sees the long line blocking that escape route. Before him is a semi-blockade of SUV's and clones milling about.

With split second thinking reactions he removes his foot from the brake and punches the gas. The car lurches forward, jarring them out of place. The agent falls over but Equius doesn't care and continues to speed up. Faintly he catches phrases such as _Halt!_ or _Stop!_ from different agents. Everyone jolts upright and clutches their seats with near death-like grips.

"Watch out!" Karkat screeches from the back seat. Equius swerves around several clones jumping in his path and his passengers make frightened noises.

The cars begin to move forward to block him, and he presses his foot down harder on the gas pedal. The engine growls and propels them farther, narrowly missing getting cut off by the black SUV's. Before him is the open road of the freeway, now car insight except for underneath him and on the horizon.

Behind him are sirens.

"You might want to do some more James Bond get away moves cause they're coming after us!" Karkat leans between the divider, halfway turned around in his seat.

"Where can I go on an open road?!" he retorts in panic.

"Exit ramp!" Sollux points to the right and he turns the wheel sharply. The vehicle skids slightly and he fights to maintain control. He runs right into oncoming traffic like this.

Everyone screams as he tosses them around. Horns honk and other vehicles move to avoid him. Somehow Equius manages to reign in control over the vehicle again and merge properly into traffic.

Breathless, he asks, "Where are they?"

"They're way back there. You caused one hell of an accident and now they can't get through," Karkat informs. Guilt worms uncomfortably in him and he silently apologizes to the innocent people behind him.

After a moment of silence he asks another question, "Is everyone okay?"

Karkat slumps back and let's out a shaky sigh. "We're fine back here."

Sollux taps in new commands on his computer. "Course is readjusted since plan A just hit the ceiling."

"I think we need to get a different car now," Miss Aradia says. "They know what vehicle we're driving, and I doubt it'll take long for them to realize it was us they just lost."

"How are we going to get a new car?" Nepeta inquires. He glances in the mirror to see she's tightly clutching her stuffed animal and seatbelt.

"We steal it, obviously," Karkat and Sollux say simultaneously. Though he repulses the idea, it's the only plausible option. And they're already wanted fugitives now, so it doesn't matter anymore.

Everyone grows quiet again, and he drives on in silence once more.

* * *

 _Can you guess how much Driver's Ed has influenced this chapter? And funnily enough, guess when it was I finished drafting it too. Yep, I'm a nut. Well, here's chapter 6, hope it still has you wondering what'll happen next!_


	7. Steal the Car

**VRISKA:**

She stares intently at her rival through the little mirror in the sun visor. Kanaya glares back fiercely. They're currently on their way to D.C, so that Kanaya can be put into proper holding. The trip should only take a couple of days if they can maintain a fair pace. That means plenty of time to spend filing away at the nail to get it to cooperate, so to say.

Vriska's pocket buzzes, and she looks down to pull out her phone and see who is calling. To her surprise it's one of the droids.

"What is it?" she asks somewhat curiously after accepting the call. "Orders from the Queen or news on the brats?"

She keeps an eye on Kanaya as the Lowry droid tells her it has to do with the fugitive kids.

 _"They were stopped at the highway entrance from the city, but not detained,"_ Lowry informs her. She frowns slightly.

"And why not?"

 _"We did not expect the driver, suspected of being Equius Zahhak, to employ evasive maneuvers. They escaped on ramp 231."_

She clenches her jaw. "Is it really so difficult to catch a handful of children?"

"You'd be surprised out how cleverly persistent children can be, Vriska," Kanaya perks up slightly and throws the jibe at her. By now Vriska is scowling. As long as those kids are out there, Kanaya is going to be insufferable, stubborn, and unyielding.

" _No ma'am._ "

"Then why are you not telling me good news?" She ignores Kanaya's smirk and hisses through her teeth.

" _My apologies-_ "

She cuts off his _apologies_ by ending the call abruptly. A headache begins to worm it's way into her mind. She flips the visor up and leans on her arm. Suddenly it comes back to her why it is she doesn't do anyone's dirty work.

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

Equius pulls into a gas station somewhat apprehensively. They had all agreed previously that the need for a new car is a must, but that doesn't really make what they're about to do any easier. Karkat surveys their meager pickings in an attempt to decide which will be their best option. A Chevy, a minivan, and a pickup truck. Very slim pickings.

"Okay so the goal is that KK and Nepeta will go into the store and see about filching some food while AA and I nab a car. Zahhak'll remain at the pump filling this car and appearing as non-suspicious as a hulking 14 year old can," Sollux lays out the plan for about the billionth time now. Nepeta squirms uncomfortably next to him when he says what her part in this is.

She's never had to turn to a life of crime to keep surviving. He feels kinda bad that she has to be introduced to this kind of lifestyle. But with their social standings pretty much replaced with ground level status then it's next to impossible to avoid anymore.

 _Man, it's been so long since I've done something like this,_ he thinks to himself. _After Miss Maryam took me in I didn't have any need for stealing. I hope that I'm not so rusty that I can't even swipe a few snacks from a fucking gas station._

Equius parks the car next to a gas pump and lets out a long breath. They plunge into silence and wrap a suffocating blanket of anxiety around themselves. His heart pounds madly against his ribs, which still ache from before. What was it that he used to tell himself to be able to pull off these stunts again? Oh yeah: It's not like they were gonna give it to him anyways, so might as well join the ranks of a pirate.

God that was only a year ago and he's already cringing at his stupid logic.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Equius moves and gets out of the car. The spell appears to be broken and everyone else shakes it off. They all unbuckle- if they had even bothered- and step out of the car. Karkat takes a deep breath, only just realizing how stifling that vehicle really is. Not that the smell of gasoline is any better, but at least it's outside. The air makes him shiver though. Late November up north and all he's wearing is a light sweater, not the brightest of wardrobe choices, but it's all he had.

 _Aaaand we're just gonna have to get back into another one after this raid and spend god knows how long in it._

That thought almost makes him feel sick.

A smaller hand grabs his and he looks down. Nepeta stares up at him, looking greener than he's beginning to feel. She wants to get it over with, he wants to get it over with, they should probably just go get it over with. He nods to her and begins to lead her towards the convenience store.

Right now he has a job to do. Gripping Nepeta's hand a little tighter he swallows hard and feels the warm blast of a heater, the small bell jingling saying they've entered the building.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

Her heart flutters madly around in her chest, making her feel queasy. Mommy had always told her that stealing is bad and that she should never do it, yet here she is breaking that rule with Mr. Karkat and going to steal stuff from a gas station! What would her Mommy have to say about _that_? Is this what robbing a bank is like? It feels like it; she nervously looks at the few strangers in here wondering if they're watching them, knowing what they're up to already. She doesn't want to steal, especially when she _does_ have money to pay for some things, but she grips her purse and Mr. Karkat's hand tighter anyways and follows him around.

Carefully, glancing around sparingly, he snags a few cracker type snacks as he passes them by. Those disappear into his pockets, which seem to hide things extraordinarily well. Or is that just her imagination?

"Go and look around," he whispers out of the corner of his mouth. He hands slips out of his grasp and he leaves her behind. Nervously she skitters to another aisle. Nepeta looks it up and down, but honestly cannot bring herself to take anything the way Mr. Karkat is doing. She'll just have to pay for it the normal way.

She spots a bag of hard candy caramels (assorted with chocolates too). Deciding what to do, Nepeta grabs it and walks up to the cash register. maybe she can at least act as a decoy. Better to have the attention on her rather than Mr. Karkat, whom she has noticed is trying to edge towards the back where the drinks are. The thought about drinks makes her realize that her throat is actually very dry. She swallows hard, trying to dismiss it as nothing related to this jumpy feeling in her tummy.

"Excuse me," she calls politely in her most shyest little girl voice possible, putting her purchase onto the counter. A big man moves in from the side from around a corner and comes up to the register with a smile. He has a very furry face, and tattoos on his arms.

"Afternoon Missy. How may I help you?"

She opens up her purse and prepares to pull out all her money. "How much does this cost?"

"Well now, let's find out," The man grabs the bag of candy and swipes it over the scanner built into the counter. It beeps and reads $1.17 on the tiller.

Nepeta begins to pull out fistfuls of change (these fistfuls not actually being very big considering that her hands are, of course, very tiny). The man chuckles a little as he watches her in amusement. "Quite a haul you've got there. Do you know how much you have?"

She shakes her head and bashfully smiles, hoping he doesn't suspect anything. "I still get confused when counting my money. Would you help me?"

"Sure thing Missy," The man begins to separate the change and help her count it out. It doesn't take him long to sort it, and soon he's giving her a receipt for her candy.

"Thank you!"

"Have a nice day," The man waves at her as she turns to leave. Nepeta sees Mr. Karkat walking quickly down an aisle and she hurries to meet up with him again, slipping her hand into his. He gives the man a stiff nod as they leave. They hurry outside before the man behind the counter can see the bottles protruding from under his shirt.

* * *

 **ARADIA:**

"The minivan or the Chevy?" She muses aloud. On one hand they Chevy is older and therefore easier to break into, but the minivan will provide them a more comfortable and possibly speedy ride.

"Well if we're basing this off of preference I would go with the Chevy-and the fact that it's actually for sale. That guy could just take our car as a replacement," Sollux strides past her and circles the Chevy with a sincere interest in it while clutching his computer loosely at his side. He nods his head to confirm what he had previously been thinking, but quickly shakes it as if to counter the thought. She walks over and joins him.

"But the minivan means more space than the sports model," Aradia snickers a little, sounding like she's reading his mind. Sollux nods, but grins at her.

He moves out of the way to go keep an eye out for various people. "The call's your's AA, you're the one with the magic tricks after all."

Aradia rolls her eyes but moves over to the other side of the minivan. Carefully she reaches out and pulls on the handle. The car, fortunately, is unlocked. She peers inside and sees that her luck is ever persisting- for in the ignition is the keys.

"Either the owner of this car is really confident they wouldn't get robbed, or they're just really stupid," Aradia pulls out of the car and waves Equius, who looks rather awkward standing alone at the pump, over to her. The boy finishes up his chore, grabs the blankets from the backseat, and power walks over to them, constantly wiping his brow with an indigo handkerchief. At that moment Karkat and Nepeta hustle out of the convenience store. She moves out of Equius's way and hops right into the back seat with Nepeta and Karkat. Sollux jogs around the car and slides smoothly into the passenger seat. The cars hums to life and they speed off out of the parking lot. Aradia turns around and sees a woman sprinting out of the store, waving her hands madly in the air for them to stop. She internally apologizes to the lady, but doesn't really let this crime get to her. In all honesty this sort of gives her a thrill, despite their circumstances.

 _Our luck persists now, but for how long will it continue after?_ she wonders.

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

The last of the sun's rays dip beyond the horizon and they officially enter the twilight zone. In no time at all it'll be dark. Nepeta has already fallen asleep on him, having found out earlier that the anxiety of stealing something does not mix well with a moving vehicle. Aradia is dozing off from the sheer amount of boredom.

"We can't afford even a motel, yet there's no way in hell we can spend a night in this car," he grumbles. They had gone from cramped to slightly less cramped, but that doesn't mean sitting in the same position all damn day doesn't bug the hell out of him. Sleeping in here just seems out of the question.

"Well damn KK, I'm sorry I forgot to pack my tent for your princessy needs," Sollux throws his hands up in the air dramatically.

"Shut up Sol."

"I can go for the rest of the night, but I will pull off to the side of the road if I have to," Equius sighs with exhaustion barely tinging his voice. Karkat doesn't like the last bit of Equius's statement. The side of the road is too open for his tastes. And for as long as they are stopped, the clones will have time to catch up with them.

"Guess it's a good thing you're not really a huge fan of sleep, right?" Sollux turns around with a smirk. Karkat rolls his eyes and gives a grudging grin in response.

"What, and you are?" They've both spent plenty of nights wide awake together messing around with various coding programs. It's what actually started them off as friends besides their copious usage of sarcasm. He resists the urge to sigh, wondering if they'll ever get to do stupid stuff like that again.

"Hey, it's not going to take long to get to D.C you know. We just recently crossed over from Massachusetts," Sollux slows down as he says the state name so he doesn't lisp it so hard. "and now we're in New York. If we can keep going without any interruptions then we should be there in the next couple of days."

"That's one huge, optimistic if there Sollux," And he caves into the sigh but for a different reason. He looks away from his friend and out the window. The scenery, so dim in the near gone light already, flies past them. How exactly did he get to this point again? It's all such a blur. Is this even real? Can he by some chance wake up and find out it's all just a really shitty dream?

Sollux turns around in his seat again and the conversation ceases to exist. Without realizing it he puts himself into a stupor of thought; eventually it lulls him into an uncomfortable light sleep.

* * *

 **SOLLUX:**

The clock on his computer reads a quarter after midnight. The radio plays soft classical rock so that way the car isn't in complete silence. Everyone in the back seat has fallen asleep, and Zahhak is still going like some diligent work horse. He, on the other hand, is wide awake and studying his computer intently. He found a semi-reliable news sight to see if anything about Miss M will show up. Resting his hand on his chin, elbow on his hip, he scrolls down the website until he finds what he's looking for. Unfortunately it's very, _very_ bad news.

His eyes widen in shock and he straightens up suddenly. "Well _shit_. Miss M is on her way to D.C. too. She's getting put on trial there!"

Equius stiffens, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "That means there will be numerous Lowry-clones swarming the city and going unnoticed will be more difficult times ten. What does it say she's being tried for? Other than treason of course."

"Says here that she's suspected of being a patron to the Resistance," He frowns. So really she isn't all that active of a participant-meaning she doesn't fight in the wars- but is still in an allegiance with the cause. Now it makes sense how she's been able to get away with it until now. She's a famed fashion designer displayed as an image to the public while she siphons money and supplies off in the background. A rather undermined but classic trope in his opinion.

"We're going to have to make it there before then or something and see if we can get Lalonde to help break her out," The lighting from the computer changes as he types in some new commands to take him to a different page, something else dividing his attention with the current problem. The inside of the vehicle gets a little darker.

"I do not think so. If you can access this information then I'm sure Miss Lalonde has it all figured out already. We must continue doing what Miss Maryam has told us to do," Of course. Ever the obedient servant, Equius Zahhak. Sollux slumps as he realizes that he's been talking to the wrong person this whole time.

He sighs in frustration. "You're probably right."

Their conversation dribbles to a halt and the only thing making noise is the radio and the sleeping people in the back. They pass a sign that says they're reaching state border again, and will be entering Pennsylvania soon. The clock on his computer read half past midnight.

Sollux returns to his project, thoughts of rescuing Miss M shoved ungratefully into the back of his mind so he could focus on the other train of thought he had had. The other thing about Miss M has brought yet another question to his mind. Who all is actually considered possible allies of the Resistance? Secretly he's hoping that this will be the key to finding his dad and brother. Psii had been pretty good friends with Miss M before he had disappeared. Maybe somehow he had been in the same business?

He clicks another link, simultaneously activating his shielding app. His hacker icon pops open moments later as he stares at a firewall.

What he's doing is totally stupid. The acts of a mad man. Something that no professional hacker nowadays would attempt, not even drunk!

He, Sollux Captor, is going to attempt hacking into the HIC's (Her Imperial Condescension according to the royal hag herself) data base.

The firewall before him is by far the most complex he has ever come across. On a good schedule he can crack something similar to this within about two-three days. On their current schedule and sketchy transmission he isn't so sure how long it'll take. But for now he only has to work through the first layer and set up his defenses. Once he's finished then his AI can take over until it needs him again. By then they should be at Lalonde's and in a more secure transmission area.

It's his most dangerous hack yet, so he'd better get to work now and quit wasting time!

* * *

 _Woops long time no update XD Sorry about that. Anyways, here's chapter 7 before_ someone _fucks up next chapter and sends our beloved heroes into a panic ;)_

 _Disclaimer: Homestuck doesn't = mine._


	8. Separation Fuck Up

_Wow the update for this story is waaaaayy overdue I am so sorry. But I am here now so it is O.K.T_

* * *

 **EQUIUS:**

They arrive in D.C sometime during the lunch rush hour and Equius has just about _had_ it. Though he's a boy known for his excellent patience and rationality, he's still just a 14 year old with limits just like anyone else. These limits are becoming increasingly obvious based off of the way he turns irritable, muttering choice obscenities under his breath as people cut him off or just refuse to go when the light _is clearly green._ Of course he makes certain to apologize afterwards because of Miss Nepeta and Miss Aradia in the back, but for the most part he feels particularly unremorseful.

"Zahhak I strongly suggest you pull the fuck over before you drive us off the deep end, both figuratively and literally!" Sollux screeches and braces himself against his seat, door, and center console as Equius punches the brake due to some baboon wearing a suit cutting him off to get into the turn lane on the opposite side of him. He grips the steering wheel tightly and nods in stiff agreement. Just up ahead is a gas station with several fast food joints crowding around it. There will be a good place to stop for a number of things.

There's an audible sound of relief once the car ceases moving. Equius takes a deep breath and releases his death grip on the steering wheel to see how much he's damaged it. Dents that make the wheel look like he crushed a soda can remain in his hands' place and he feels a coil of frustration tighten inside of him. How unseemly for him to have damaged the vehicle already.

"We should get lunch while we're here before trying to find Lalonde's place. I've had enough of listening to this chorus of stomachs. How much did you say you found Sol?" Karkat leans forward between the divider to reach for the glove compartment. Sollux slaps his hand out of the way.

"The lady had about 25 bucks stashed in here. I've gotta agree with you on this AA, she was overconfident about not getting robbed," Sollux opens the compartment and pulls out a thin wad of cash. "So which place are we hitting? My vote's on Wendy's or Burger King."

"You guys pick, I'm taking Nepeta to the bathroom," Miss Aradia opens her door and slides out easily with Nepeta close behind. He watches them as they quickly walk inside before returning his attention to the topic at hand.

"I'll go with Wendy's just because I can actually stomach their fries," Karkat opens his door and exits the vehicle. Since the ratio is a 2:1 given that he doesn't have an opinion as to where they should eat then he just goes with it. Shrugging he gets out, locking the car as soon as Sollux has left it, the boy taking his laptop with him like always.

* * *

 **ROXY:**

"Have you hacked into those security cams yet?" Dirk opens the dividing door to check in on her. The brightest light she's endured all day floods in from the front and infiltrates the enclosed and dark environment she had set up and she practically hisses at it, shielding her eyes and looking away. Dirk hurries into the back of the vehicle with her and shuts the panel. He sits on the edge of the spare chair, leaning in towards the screen so he can see what she's doing.

"That's a joke right? Please tell me you were trying to be funny because I could really use something to laugh about right now," She turns and gives her friend a dead stare and he backs off with his hands raised in surrender. Roxy turns away from him to continue watching her scanner cycle through the rotating monitors. "I've been hacked into these cheap ass cams for the last hour and I still haven't found them."

"Rose did say that they'd be here by today, right?" Dirk goes back to his standard hawk position and watches the screens with her. She nods and reaches over to grab her soda, taking a generous sip of it. The day's only barely half over and she's gone through about fifteen of these bad boys; it's making her feel edgy which isn't good for her if she intends to actually complete this job.

She looks down to observe the computer in her lap. It's a sleek edition, one of a kind, created by a fucking genius- a.k.a the weirdo sitting next to her. It's the only one she trusts to carry out her grade A hacking schemes, coded and programmed by herself (with a touch of Dirk's influence here and there) it means she's nigh on untouchable. On this screen there are pictures of 5 different kids. All of them were apart of Kanaya's division of course; 4 employees that seem like spunky kids from reading their profiles, and Kanaya's kiddo. She's supposed to greet them when they get here, and then help them get to Kan's vault.

"It _is_ lunch hour," She grumbles thoughtfully, taking another swig of her soda. "Traffic is hell right now so they're probably just stu-!"

The scanner program beeps and the duo sit upright, pulling themselves closer to the screen. Roxy opens a different window on her laptop and her fingers fly rapidly over the keyboard to hone in on the match. One of the monitors goes full screen and zooms in on a pit stop more or less at the edge of the city.

Two kids get out of a white minivan, both of them being girls, and Roxy zooms in even further onto their faces. The profile match pops up when she freezes the screen and it shows her the diagnostics.

 _99.8% match for Aradia Megido_

 _99.9% match for Nepeta Maryam_

"Bingo! We've got 'em hoss," She awkwardly pats Dirk, having not bothered to look away from the screen, and ends up hitting him in the face. "Let's go pick up some kids."

"Roger," Dirk says with a light chuckle, messing up the Queen of Hacker's hair. He returns to the front of the vehicle and starts it up, raring to go.

* * *

 **ARADIA:**

They all stand in line, discussing quietly with each other what they'd get. It feels odd to her that they'd be engaged in such a mundane activity after what they've been doing for the past couple of days. Still, they needed a break, even if it is just for lunch.

"Equius," She looks down when she hears Nepeta and sees that the little girl is slightly tugging on the older boy's shirt to get his attention. Equius looks down at her.

"Yes Miss...Nepeta?" Equius pauses as he considers the level of brightness it will be to use things such as honorifics in a place like this. Aradia casually glances around to make sure no one is even bothering to listen to their conversation. Thankfully there's no on in line behind them.

"May I get a Frosty? Please?" She looks at him pleadingly. He frowns as he moves onto the next consideration, mostly pondering the fact that she, Aradia, had informed him that Nepeta had gotten sick while they had gone to use the restrooms.

Equius looks like he's about to say no when Karkat cuts in. "Let her get the fucking Frosty. Hell, we might as well go the whole 9 yards and get _everyone_ a Frosty. What have we got to lose that we haven't already?"

Karkat's mini rant turns into muttering under his breath fiercely, segwaying into an argument with himself. She doesn't question him, having come to learn that he hasn't slept good he does things like this. To be quite honest she prefers this over the shouting.

Equius sighs. "Alright, but you're getting the smallest size available."

Nepeta nods her head, curly orange hair bouncing limply off of her head. The little girl skips lightly to the front as they move forward to order their meal. Once it has been rung up and paid for they all took their seats near one of the two exits. While they wait, Sollux opens his laptop and begins typing away on it. She frowns slightly. What can he be doing at a time like this? There shouldn't be a need for him to be using it.

Aradia leans over to see what he's doing. Her eyes widen in surprise and jaw drops slightly that now, of all the possible times he could have chosen from, Sollux is trying to perform a hack! An extremely difficult one too by the looks of it. She slaps his arm and stares at him incredulously, silently asking him what the hell he's thinking while gesturing between him and the computer. He in return opens and closes his mouth and tries to bat her away.

" _Hey!_ " They jump as Karkat snaps at them. "If you two would quit playing charades, and I don't now, _pay attention_ because we've got our fucking food, then maybe we can get out here a lot faster? I don't know it was just a thought that you guys should seriously consider."

Sollux sighs in frustration and mutters an apology. She glances at the table and sees that there is indeed already food there, and that everyone else has already gotten a start on eating it. She grabs her burger and eats it diligently in an effort to make it seem like she hadn't just wasted time arguing with Sollux. She continues to keep an eye on him though, noting how he's eating and hacking.

When she's done, which is very soon due to Wendy's being rather easy and fast to consume, she looks around and observes the happenings of the outside world. Many cars pass back and forth with people going about their normal lives. A few, like this black suburban, pull into the pit stop. She watches it in mild curiosity as a strange sense of trepidation creeps into her.

All four doors open and the people inside exit in synchronization. Her eyes widen in shock for the second time within the last 10 minutes.

"Get down!" she hisses, ducking low in her seat and dragging Sollux with her. The people from the vehicle have chestnut hair, dead expressions, and matching expensive suits. The Queen's droids are back again and she's pretty certain they're not here to grab some lunch.

"What now?" Karkat groans.

"Our friends the Lowry droids," she gestures towards the window where the said droids are beginning to split up. Two walk away from the restaurant and over to their car, the remaining three approach the building and split up again.

"What do we do?" Nepeta whispers anxiously, having taken a peek over her seat and seen what they had seen. Aradia looks between the two exits and then to the quickly approaching conflict. An idea, a very risky idea, pops into her head.

"We split up and regroup," She slides out of the boot and grabs Nepeta's hand. "Loop back around to meet up here again after you're sure you're not being followed. Come on let's go sweety."

"Wait AA- You need someone else-"

"I can handle myself and Nepeta, we need to go- _crap,_ " She stops talking and pulls Nepeta away from the booth, ushering her for the door before they can get caught by the droid. However they aren't fast enough and Mr. Lowry beats them there just barely.

The droid stands in her way, filling up the small door frame with his broad shoulders. "Aradia Megido, surrender-"

Impatient, she let's go of Nepeta to jab sharply at the man's gut. Thankfully the droid reacts like a normal human, bending over as if he actually felt pain. Aradia grabs the fabric of his suit in a tight bunch before bracing her shoulder against him to send him sprawling behind them. A few people scream in surprise and she glances back to see more or less the same thing happening at he other door except with guns. She snatches Nepeta's hand again and runs.

* * *

 **ROXY:**

"Shit, shit, _shit!_ Dirk the Batterwitche's creep ass clones found them and now the kids have gone and split up!" Roxy begins to calibrate the tracker to find both groups. She's worried about all of them, but the kiddo... Little Nep's supposed to be the one with the key to Kan's vault. If the Sea Hag gets a hold of it then the Resistance is fucked.

"Say what?!" Dirk's voice is muffled by the dark doors. Roxy growls and forces them open, squinting at the light and hopping into the front.

"The squad has been split up. We're going to have to do the same in order to round them up. I'll get the girl's and you can follow the boy's," Roxy grabs a watch from the glove compartment and returns to the back so she can sync it with the data on her computer.

While it's doing that, she starts to load her guns. Roxy lifts the back of her shirt and slips a pair into the back holster, tucking the material back over it when they're nice and snug. Two more weapons find their way to her legs and hide under the folds of her skirt.

Damn, she was hoping to be able to avoid this scenario.

"Catch up with you at the estate, yeah?" She slaps on the watch and opens the back door.

Dirk turns around slightly in his seat, the van slowing to a reasonable amble so she can hop out. "Don't die Rox."

"Back at ya D-Stri."

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

She trips over her feet and skins her knees. Aradia's tight grip on her hand keeps her from falling all the way, but it yanks her arm really hard. Nepeta cries out and Aradia pulls her up, watching behind them. The moment she's back on her feet they're off again.

"A-ra-di-a!" She yells as they run, each syllable coming out choppy as she bounces on each step. "Where are we go-ing?!"

In reply the older girl turns sharply and they weave through the pedestrians, Nepeta shrieks at the sudden change. Everything seems to fly by her, and when she looks to her right at a building she sees a strange reflection. All she is is a blur! Behind her are shouts and warnings for them to stop.

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

"Are you fucking kidding me? How the hell do we manage to get lost when trying to lose someone else?!" Karkat yells in frustration as they pound down a relatively empty street. For some bright and intelligible reason they had let _Equius_ lead the way and now this is where it had gotten them. The partial slums of Washington-fucking-D.C.

The day's already moving on and they've probably already missed the deadline to go back to Wendy's -not that there had been one in the first place but he hopes common sense would have told Aradia to not stick around for long. Hope and common sense being his sarcastic choice of key words.

"We're near a Railway," Sollux pants. "If we can get there I'll try and pin point Lalonde's address to our location and we'll start heading there. I'm sure AA is doing something similar."

Karkat notices the worry in his friend's voice and he can't help but adopt it as his own. He should have gone with the girls, at least then Nepeta would still have _one_ of her body guards. And it's his duty to protect her. The kid's only 7, and all this shit being dumped onto her all at once is scaring her.

They all nod and follow the signs to the Railway, slipping past a chain link fence when they arrive. They hunt for an empty and unused train car and set up a highly temporary base of operations.

Karkat doesn't bother to sit down like Sollux, instead he chooses to lean against a wall and stare through a crack in the door at the outside world. The sun is starting to dip below the buildings, the perfect level for blinding the fuck out of him. He winces and turns to stare at Sollux, wondering how it is exactly that it had gotten to be so late already.

"Can you find them?" Equius rumbles.

Sollux frowns angrily at the screen of his computer. "The fuck do you think I'm _doing_ Zahhak? Sitting on my ass for no particular reason?"

Equius folds his arms and sighs in frustration. Karkat scowls and looks back outside.

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

They had returned back to Wendy's after being certain they had lost their pursuers. But it didn't turn out to be as simple as Aradia's plan had led her to believe. The police had the place surrounded and a witness recognized Aradia. Before they could run away again they wound up in the back of a police car. Now she's huddled close to Aradia in a holding cell. The police thinks that they're runaways, and are trying to contact their "parents". She worries that they're actually in league with the Queen and are calling her and telling her where they are.

Nepeta struggles to fit herself closer to Aradia, a shiver running through her. Her little heart has never beat so fast before, and it's hard to get it to stop. She hopes that the boys are okay. She doesn't know what she'd do if something happened to them. What if the Lowry droids had caught them? What if the Queen is interrogating them right now? Hurting them? The thought makes her flinch.

"Do you think the others are okay?" She whispers into the quiet. Aradia reaches to pet her hair, running her seemingly delicate yet strong hands through and combing it.

"I'd say they're wondering the same about us right now, which makes them safe," Aradia answers her quietly, softly so as to help calm her nerves. Nepeta wonders how it is that the older girl can be so calm.

There's a clang and she jumps. A police officer with short brown hair and beady eyes walks in and unlocks their cell. With a not really reassuring smile he says,"There's someone here to pick you girls up. Try to keep out of trouble next time, will you?"

She grips Aradia's shirt tightly and starts to shake. It isn't Mr. Lowry, is it? Or...Or what if it _is her?_ Would the Queen come to get her? Tears form and blur her vision. She doesn't want to be taken away by the Queen!

A woman with a healthy sun tan walks into the room, her black heels clicking against the floor and echoing slightly. She wears a purple skirt and a grey tank top, a sweet smile gracing her face. Blonde hair curls down to her shoulders, looking shiny as it bobs up and down. Nepeta doesn't know this woman but she looks familiar somehow.

"Hey guys! Auntie Lalonde's here to take you home."

Nepeta can't help it. The suspense built up inside of her burst like a damn and she let out a wail, hiccuping and burying her face in Aradia's side.

"Aw shit, no don't cry! It's okay kiddo!" She looks up again to see the lady that claims to be Miss Lalonde hurrying forward and kneeling down so they're eye level. There's a look of genuine confusion and panic on the lady's pretty face. It's obvious she had not been expecting the little girl to cry.

Aradia stands up, forcing Nepeta to do the same. "The day's just been really stressful for her, _Auntie_."

Miss Lalonde's shoulders relax and she smiles again, standing and gesturing for them to follow her outside. They do so and see that the sun has almost set. How did the time fly so fast?

"Miss Lalonde-," Aradia tries to ask something, but the other woman cuts her off.

"Just Roxy's fine. By the way my friend Dirk is getting your other friends so there's no need to worry about that. Now where the hell is that ride?" Roxy pulls out her phone and presses a number that's on speed dial, putting it to her ear. No sooner had she done so then a sleek black car pulls into view.

Roxy grins in satisfaction and gestures grandly for them to get in.

* * *

 **DIRK:**

He finally fucking finds them, but apparently he's not the _only_ one. He scowls at the droid patrol as they enter the Railway and circle a train car that the boys are in. Stepping out of his van he draws his sword and clenches it tightly in his hand. From the looks of it the drones aren't going to be fucking around. They've got guns locked and loaded like they're ready to shoot. Obviously these kids have proven to be troublesome enough for these kinds of measures.

Dirk flash steps forward and nimbly clears the chain link fence, lightly touching down on the gravel. He can hear them starting in on their customary greeting -i.e. Surrender or we shoot. He ducks low and holds his sword out from his body, treating it like an extension of his arm. In moments that consist of nothing except speed and the wind ripping through him he takes down three clones at once; their heads cleanly severed from their bodies.

A drone turns to him with a gun pointing at his chest, but he silences any qualms and follows through to dispatch the rest in more or less the same manner.

When he's done he raps lightly on the door of the boxcar, panting slightly and casually placing his synthetic covered sword over his shoulder. Nobody answers him so he clears his throat.

"Yo get your asses out here. I'm here to take you to Roxy's place. Or if you wanna get technical the Lalonde Estate."

At this an argument that's a mixture of quiet and loud breaks out from inside the train car and Dirk has to physically repress the urge to roll his eyes. Instead he turns to scope the area out and make sure no one else is gonna see them. He's about to make another snarky remark about the time when the door opens a fraction of an inch.

A kid with a deepening and scratchy voice speaks up in irritation. "What's the password, fuckass?"

Dirk frowns. "You're kidding me, right?"

"If you're not in league with the Queen then you'll give us the damn password!"

Dirk pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs in frustration. "Look I really cannot stress the amount of time we don't have. Right now Roxy's on her way back home; she's got your friends with her and I need to get you to the same destination as well. Plus, if I did work for the fucking Batterwitch we would not be having this discussion right now because I would either A) have already put you guys behind bars or B) Roxy would have shot me before that could happen."

The door shuts and conversation of the not so secret persuasion resumes. Just as quick as it had happened the door opens again. "Give us your name."

"Dirk Strider."

Presto. The magic words. The... _fucking password!_ He internally berates himself while simultaneously congratulating the little shits for outsmarting him like that. The door opens all the way and three boys of varying sizes hop out. Dirk grins at them before turning around.

"Now if you lovely ladies will step right this way, we've got a date to make."


	9. Dreadful News

_Okay so tbh before I updated that last chapter I had lost my motivation to write more for this story and then I updated and I felt powerful and then Falconface (Thank) reviewed and that just inflated my ego (whose ego doesn't get inflated when they get a review though?) so I powered through and wrote another chapter you're welcome._

 _However- *cue gross sobbing because I torture one of my otp's in this chapter but also cue hysterical laughing because y'all could cry too and that makes it worth it* (My friend told me this is why we can't have nice things and tbh I can't find the lie XD)_

 _P.S The time span starts from pretty much after Dirk picks up the boys and then goes through about half the night._

* * *

 **KANAYA:**

Kanaya knew what the next call Vriska had received was about. It was all in how the other woman reacted in outrage that told her just enough to feel smug. They had failed yet again to capture the children, in their own territory too no less. How fitting of a show this is for the Imperials capabilities, or should she say, lack there of.

However the rage from Vriska's temper did not go undirected. Just as the night was settling over the capital city they arrived at the holding facility meant for people like her that had supposedly committed great acts of treason against the Queen. It's a dark and looming fortress, amongst all the modern buildings it could either be classified as a corporation building or a fictional castle. The aggravated woman had spared Kanaya the tour and hassled her all the way down to her very own cell in the basement. The shove she received was practically complimentary along with listening to the series of muttered insults not meant to be repeated. And the topper had been when Vriska has stormed off and slammed the door behind her.

With that Kanaya had been allotted time to process the new semi-news (for she really hadn't heard much of anything) about the happenings around her. This also includes her critiquing of the interior design of the cell she's in. Ugh, what a drab setting. If this place were meant to frighten her then the least they could have done is used a darker shade of grey on the walls and installed less furniture. Possibly have made the lights flicker. Unidentifiable sludge on the walls and floor. Unsanitary conditions and the like. As of right now she simply feels quite at home, although that might possibly be contributed to the feeling one might like to equate to running victory laps.

After what seems like a considerable amount of time standing around and contemplating the various things she moves to settle herself down on a seat hanging off the wall, resting her backside against it and closing her eyes. By now the children should be reaching Rose's estate or are already there. If Rose had made it back as well then she can help the children on the next leg of the journey to meet up with Ampora. But if Rose _isn't_ there then Roxy can take care of it, both Lalondes' are very trustworthy, holding much disdain for the Batterwitch.

A low groan resonates through the air, piercing her thoughts; it's very close to her. Kanaya stands up once again and reaches the bars of her cell, straining to catch a glimpse of whoever had made the noise. The cell across from her is empty, as is the whole line on the opposing wall. She tries to look on either side of her but the bars are too small and visibility is restricted to a margin of seeing only what can be considered the horizon line of her side of cells.

Hesitantly she calls out to see if she can better locate the source. "Hello?"

The cell to her right makes some noise and she sees, barely, pale hands grabbing the bars. Sun-bleached blonde hair pokes out where the face cannot. In return the person making the noises responds with a slight, dry, and almost sick texan drawl. "Kanaya?"

She gasps. "Dave? What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I guess. Got caught," He chuckles darkly and without humor. A sense of dread rises within her, molding into a pit stuck painfully in her throat. He shouldn't be here. And if he's here then that means...

"What happened to your wedding?" She whispers cautiously, wincing as the words come out of her mouth. If Dave is here then that means something went terribly wrong before, during, or after his wedding.

She sees the hands tighten around the bars, the knuckles whitening until they look ready to pop out of the skin. For a moment Dave remains silent. Then he takes a shuddering breath and starts to relay the events of his capture to her.

"I'm just gonna start by thanking you for that wedding dress, Kanaya. Jade was like a dream in it," Kanaya closes her eyes tightly, gripping the iron bars harder. Did something happen to Jade? She can only imagine what it must have been like to watch her walk down the aisle, glowing a dazzling white and radiating the joy that one feels when starting their new life with their significant other. How Dave must have felt when he saw his soon-to-be wife, the overwhelming loving bringing tears to his eyes. It hurts Kanaya to think of how the Condescension could have possibly ruined this couple's happy day.

"The drones came crashing in just after we said our vows. I don't know how they found us- they shouldn't have! Our wedding was a-"

"Secret," She finishes quietly. "I know. A lot of things are supposed to be a secret, but they're turning out to be more public than we thought. The Queen somehow found out that I'm a Patron."

A long breath passes through the silence that follows and she imagines that Dave is trying to deflate before continuing his story. It made her heart pound madly in anticipation to find out what happened next. The lump in her throat now felt as hard as the iron bars she clung to so tightly.

" _John_ , my best friend, my _best man_ , he-he jumped in front of me when they started pointing their guns and shooting. _That idiot,_ " Dave chokes. " _that selfless idiot_."

The lump sank to her stomach like a rock as she connected the dots as to what happened to John. She let go of the bars with one hand to cover her mouth. She presses her forehead against the cool metal, bowing her head in mourning. She may not have known John very well, but the few times she had met him she admired him. He was one of those people in the Resistance that could unite everyone and lead them without realizing he had done so in the first place. He was kind and a bit corny, but that was a given because of his choice in professions. Still, the loss will be felt by many, including her.

"I'm so sorry, Dave," she apologizes through her hand. It's awful to hear about it, terrible to imagine, but the most damage it will inflict upon is the ones who survived in place of the ones who did not. Dave lost his best friend right before his eyes, maybe even held him in his dying moments. And Jade had lost a brother all on her wedding day.

Her head snaps up suddenly. "Where's Jade?"

It has abruptly come to her attention that Jade is, in fact, not currently present with Dave.

"The Batterwitch has her upstairs, trying to brainwash her," Dave says bitterly and helplessly. Kanaya's heart aches for her friend, and she sends strong thoughts out to Jade to remain strong, even bordering along the lines of being prayerful. She would like to say something in reassurance to Dave but she holds her tongue. What can she offer him besides a fickle hope and wavering promises? The Resistance won't be coming to rescue, at least not anytime soon, as they're already tangled far too much in their threads of war. And she can't expect any more of her daughter and employees; they have to focus on getting to her vault.

The silence that had enveloped them is once again broken as Dave speaks, using this as his turn to ask questions.

"How did they get you?"

She lets go of the bars completely to rub her temples, chuckling much the same as Dave had before. "I think the Queen just likes crashing parties altogether, because I had been hosting one when a droid put a gun to my head."

"Where's your kid? Does the Batterwitch have her?"

Kanaya lets out a soft ' _ha_ ' to let him know that the Queen hasn't come even _close_ to touching her daughter. "I have her bodyguards and other employees to thank for keeping my daughter safe."

She can hear the frown in Dave's voice as he continues to build his cache of information. "Wait, you've got a bunch of kids in your staff, right? How have they managed to keep themselves out of the Queen's grasp when so far all of us professionals have been doing a shitty job at it?"

The question causes her to reflect a little on the skills of each of the children, and the reasons she had hired them in the first place. Karkat had been orphaned when she met him; his quick skills as both a thief and a fighter had been influential in her decision to hire him as Nepeta's Lower bodyguard. He is also just a young boy and she felt a strong and motherly urge to take care of him, as she did with all the children. Equius had been apprenticed as the Higher bodyguard because of his many skills physically and mechanically, and as a form of payment to his brother Horuss Zahhak. Sollux had been hired for his expertise with computers and because he could not find his father and brother. Aradia was hired because she had been posted in the area as an intel "Maid" to traffic information for the Resistance, but she couldn't find any work except with her.

A tiny grin ghosts Kanaya's lips. "They're a talented and resourceful bunch of children. And I'll tell you the same thing I told Vriska: When they don't wish to be caught they do everything they know how to keep it a secret. That is to say not that they won't be receiving help along the way."

Dave remains silent and she wonders if he's nodding his head, forgetting that she cannot see him.

A loud clang resounds from down the hall and footsteps tap sharply along the stone. In a moment a livid Vriska stands in front of her cell. The woman's spidery, clawed hand darts forward and snatches the collar of Kanaya's shirt to yank her forward. She winces as her chest collides painfully against the bars.

"You think you're _real_ clever, don't you Maryam? Sending kids to do your business, ha! We'll see how clever you think you are when this is all over," Vriska hisses. Kanaya's eyes narrow and she smirks with a tilt of her head.

"Get in trouble with your boss dearie?" She asks innocently. A snarl highlights Vriska's appearance. She looks intimidating yet her temper oozes immaturity just by throwing a tantrum.

A phone rings and Vriska releases Kanaya with a shove. She stumbles away and looks up to watch Vriska answer her phone, straightening her shirt out. Vriska mostly listens to the call, nodding and making small sounds in agreement. The call barely lasts a full minute before she's hanging up and turning to face Kanaya once again. Vriska leans forward, tilting her chin so the light o the hall casts strange shadows over her face. A wicked grin tickles the corners of her lipstick stained lips.

"I'd watch what comes out of your mouth, _Kanaya_ , or I'll be sure your kid ends up with a few bruises when I go to pick her up."

A spike of fiery heat spurts through Kanaya's veins, the pit in her stomach turning into a churning hole. She mimics Vriska by leaning forward until they're eye to eye.

"You don't even know where she is," Kanaya scoffs. "Last I saw and heard the droids had failed yet again."

At the challenge the wicked grin is unleashed filled with knowing something that Kanaya doesn't. The heat instantly cools in her veins and runs with ice and lead instead.

Vriska whispers in a teasing and harsh way. "I know they're here in D.C. I know who it is you trust in the fashion industry, therefore I know who it is you would send them to. When I go to pick your brat up I'll be sure she knows the trouble her mommy is putting her in."

Kanaya lunges forward and grapples to get a grip around Vriska's throat. "You bitch! Keep your filthy hands off of my daughter!"

Vriska chokes and chops Kanaya's wrists, forcing her to let go. But not before-very much to Kanaya's deep and seething satisfaction- she claws deep enough to draw blood. Vriska hisses in pain and breathes heavily. Dave in the other cell starts chuckling scornfully.

"Ya ever hear of the phrase 'Don't mess with a Mama Bear's cub', Serket?" Vriska stalks over to his cell and punches Dave through the bars. He grunts but doesn't say anything further about the matter, his hands retracting away from the door. Vriska spits into his cell and then returns to face Kanaya, standing a generous distance away this time.

"Your kid can't run forever, and when I catch her I'm going to make her scream until you tell me _everything_ the Queen wants to know," With that the haughty woman walks away. When the door clangs shut she collapses to the floor. Kanaya rarely breaks down, usually finding that all the things she _wanted_ to cry about were rather silly or insignificant. But in this moment the utter terror welling and coursing through her for the safety of her daughter is no trivial matter. Tears run their own course tracking down her face with increasing speed and amount and her heart jumps hurtles after hurtles trying to finish a non-existent races. What has she just sentenced Nepeta to?

"Kanaya. _Kanaya_ your daughter is going to be _fine_ ," Kanaya rubs at her eyes furiously, bring herself closer to the bars so she can try to catch a glimpse of Dave. His words are a source of comfort she must take part in, whether they are a lie or not.

Dave slides his pale hand out and runs it along the wall to reach out to her. Her own darker hand snakes its way out and meets up with him. Their reach is too short, only being able to hold on by the tips of their fingers. But touch is what helps Kanaya calm down a little, though the tears and fear still keep coming.

"Look at this mess we've created," She croaks. "It's like we've cheated our legacy by dealing with the Devil."

"Kan, don't let the spider-bitch's words get to you. Your said yourself that the kids are good, right? I'm sure the help you're sending them to are capable of holding their own so just trust they'll get out of it alright."

Kanaya sighs with a shiver. He's right, she shouldn't be panicking now no matter how much her maternal instincts urged her to. If the Imperials have failed three times already to capture the kids then there's no guarantee that they'll be able to do it any time soon. And the Lalondes' are amazing get away experts.

"Dave?"

"Yeah?"

"I know it's rather silly, especially since this _is_ me asking, but will you pray with me?" Kanaya doesn't consider herself to the spiritual type, but when either she or someone she cares for deeply is terribly stressed then she turns to praying. It helps her feel like the weights on her shoulders aren't causing her to sink and it refreshes her mind to a certain degree. It's her stress reliever in dark times when normal means are unavailable.

"No problem. We can pray all that you'd like," Dave responds softly. She closes her eyes and whispers a thank you, scooting closer to the wall and leaning against it before beginning her prayer.

* * *

 _I swear when I wrote Kanaya calling Vriska a bitch all I could think about was when Molly Weasley pushed Ginny out of the way to fight Bellatrix and I'm just like, yas, good Kanaya. Powerful Mama Bear. Do your thang. XD_

 _Anyways, what'd you think about this chapter? Feels? Yay, nay? Needless to say I feel evilly accomplished and next chapter is gonna be even better. :3_


	10. Disastrous Hack

_**WARNING:**_ _This chapter contains Pale DirkNep fluff, Closet Fanboy Sollux Captor, and a cLIFFHANGER IN WHICH I REGRET NOTHING! Also much thank to Falconface for another review! (This took up 26 pages front and back of loose leaf paper AND whatever it is I edited in and out so I'm really proud at how long this chapter is)_

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

She wakes with a start, shaking and trembling. It takes her several long minutes to remind, rather it's heavy persuasion and convincing, herself that she had just had a nightmare. The Lowry droids aren't chasing her and her friends right now. It was _just_ a dream. Nepeta kicks off the heavy blanket and searches around for her toy, Miss Dutchess, and her purse (which she doesn't like kept very far from her anymore). After locating the desired items she quietly slips off of the bed Miss Roxy had said she could use for the night. She's supposed to be sharing this room with Miss Aradia, but the other girl isn't anywhere to be found. The next room over is where all the boys are sleeping, but she doubts that any of the older kids are actually doing that. Nepeta clutches Miss Dutchess close to her chest and leaves her bedroom, her socks muffling the sound of her footfalls on the tiled floor outside of her room.

As she walks she can't help but combine her thoughts with the silence. It's so _scary_. The life she has known for forever has just disappeared from her. It's a lot, maybe too much, for just a 7 year old girl like her. All she had wanted that night- gosh was it really only a few days ago?- was to dance with Mr. Karkat.

Nepeta lets out a tiny sigh and turns down yet another empty hallway. She sees a light peeping through a half closed door to what she assumes to be a study. The light makes the hallway practically glow with a fire like light. With nothing better to do, and sleep far away from her, she creeps towards the door to hear what she could hear. There are a couple of people talking. One of the voices sounds like Miss Roxy, and the other one is... Is that Miss Aradia? Curious, Nepeta engages full on spy mode and clings to the wall.

"There's still no news about where Miss Rose is? Could it be possible she has been apprehended as well? I don't like this, Patrons are suddenly dropping like flies," Yes that is definitely Miss Aradia. Why is she talking about these things with Miss Roxy?

"No, that's one of the least possible outcomes when it involves my sister. If anything she's probably trying to instigate a jail break. You know how much she cares for Kanaya," Miss Roxy sighs. "Have you been in contact with your family yet?"

Nepeta imagines Miss Aradia shaking her head as she answers, "There hasn't been any time between getting chased by the Imperials and trying to make it here per Miss Maryam's orders. Last I heard Damara was supposed to be stationed in the area near the Ampora residence. Mother had yet to return from her last post."

Nepeta's head cocks to the side in slight confusion. Miss Aradia is kind of talking weird. It's almost like she knows exactly what is going on, the finer details of this mission her Mommy gave them, and has for awhile. She leans in closer to the door.

Miss Roxy growls in frustration and something starts to make tapping noises on wood. "Communications among the Patrons have been further restricted- leaving _us_ with a margin to warn each other, usually too late. I can't give you much intel other than what you already know, and you probably can't report back until you reach Kan's vault."

"About that," Miss Aradia cuts in. "We know the country Miss Maryam's vault is in, we just don't know _where_ in said country."

There's some rustling and then what sounds like paper being spread out. "I can help you a little bit with that. There's a district in Siberia called _Omsk Oblast_ , and of course because everyone is terribly original when naming things then the capital city is named Omsk too. Somewhere in the outskirts of this city is the vault. I can't say where specifically just because I don't know the coordinates like Rose does. That's why I just barely decided we're gonna have to meet Eridan before we hit Russia."

So they're definitely going to have to meet Mr. Ampora. Nepeta wrinkles her nose. She doesn't really like Mr. Ampora, and he doesn't really like her. But they've both hit a mutual agreement to keep their feud quiet so Mommy wouldn't get mad at them. (That happened once and it was rather frightening for both parties involved.) Hopefully though he'll be nice this time and help them.

Nepeta stiffens when she feels a hand latch onto her shoulder. Her mouth drops open in surprise, but luckily no sound came out. She looks up and sees Mr. Strider, a friend of Miss Roxy, raising his fingers to his lips. Expertly, he turns her around and shepherds her back down the hall, away from the discussion of future plans. It's quiet the whole way down the hall until they round the corner. Nepeta worries that he's going to scold her for eavesdropping.

To her relief, Mr. Strider looks down at her and gives a half grin, starting up a conversation about something completely different. "So you really like cats, huh?"

The question throws her for a loop, but she sighs on the inside because it meant she wasn't in any trouble. Nepeta nods a little timidly and clutches Miss Dutchess closer to her chest, tucking her chin on top of the soft head. She feels oddly shy around Mr. Strider, but she's simply chalking it up to still being nervous about her whole situation. And maybe just a little bit because of how handsome Mr. Strider is. (But not nearly as handsome as Mr. Karkat of course!) For certain, though, she knows there's really nothing to be afraid of, Mr. Strider does seem like a nice enough man.

Mr. Strider turns to look back at the hall as they continued walking, shoving his hands in his pockets. He carries on with the conversation, but at a whisper. "I like cats too. They're pretty cool. What's your cat's name?"

"M-Miss Dutchess," Nepeta loosens her grip on the toy and holds up the white kitty for him to see. He chuckles and takes one of the little stuffed paws between his fingers and shakes with they toy.

"How d'ya do Miss Dutchess? The name's Dirk," Nepeta smiles and giggles. She's starting to feel more at ease already.

She makes the cat give an awkward curtsy and replies in her most lady like accent, "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Dirk."

They both laugh and Nepeta doesn't feel so tense anymore. Mr. Dirk isn't so bad. They continue to walk around, Mr. Dirk leading them in towards a part of the manor she isn't familiar enough with. He talks with her more about cats, sharing stories of one he and his little brother had when they were kids. It made her feel kind of like she did it all the time with him. She would like it a lot if they could. It's even a lot of fun when they gave each other code names! She calls Mr. Dirk Flash, because he's really fast. He calls her Wild Cat, because she's got untapped strength like a lion in her.

"Want something to munch on? I won't tell anyone about the midnight snacking if you don't," Mr. Dirk asks with a gesture towards the kitchen they were passing. Nepeta nods eagerly, feeling excited about making a new friend with someone as cool as Mr. Dirk. With a grin they both walk inside the clean room to make a mess.

* * *

 **SOLLUX:**

Sollux sits on a plush couch with his laptop settled on him with a complex wall of code on the screen. Karkat sits at one end of the couch nodding off but pretending he isn't. Equius is laying on his back with a tan arm draped over his eyes to show he isn't in the mood to be bothered. He knows for a fact that Aradia isn't in the other room asleep like Nepeta is. He watched her walk off with Lalonde to talk.

He cracks his knuckles and puts his hands to the keys. Before he returned to hacking the HIC's mainframe he had checked out the security of the Lalondes' connection. He was thoroughly impressed to say the least. Even he would have a tough time hacking in if he didn't have the other project to worry about. There are layers and layers of firewalls to go through, and the traps could destroy his computer if he wasn't quick enough to avoid them. Whoever had set it up is a pure genius in his opinion. Now with this secure environment he can go back to his original task. All he needs is maybe a good 15 minutes and he can have the Condescension's security breached.

His fingers fly away hard at work and the code begins to blur as his focus enters the zone. For the next 15 minutes all he hears is the clacking of keys and the ring of silence. Music to a hacker's ears.

And then finally!

"Bingo," he whispers as the code disappears to reveal the database he needs.

"Was his name-o! Pretty slick skills you got there kid," Sollux jumps at the sound of Lalonde speaking up behind him. He looks over his shoulder and sees her leaning slightly over him with her hands on her hips and a smirk playing with her lips. Her lilac tinted eyes are filled with impress. Behind her is Aradia pinching the bridge of her nose (but with a grin on her face) and he knows that she's a little unenthused with his continuance of hacking from earlier.

"How long have you been in the hacking business?" Lalonde leans backwards against the couch, folding her arms over her chest.

A little embarrassed that she's taking an interest in his hobby he mumbles an answer. He's always been into things like programming since he was a kid, but a couple years ago he had heard about a legendary enigma that went around hacking a lot of important government things and he'd been sucked into the job since then. He's made it his goal to become an equal to that enigma, if not greater. The one hacker he aspires to be like, his idol, is known as Rogue in the hacker community.

"What did you hack into?" Lalonde falls backwards over the couch so she's sitting upside down. She swipes his computer away before he can protest, and he starts to get nervous. Her eyes widen when she sees the screen and he just knows he's in so much trouble now.

Lalonde gives it a quick scroll through before handing the computer back to him and wiggling around to stand up. She left to retrieve something, but kept talking as she did so. Her voice echoed in the hall as she left. "Dude seriously?! How long did it take you to crack that?"

"Um, about a day? Maybe a little longer?" He says unsurely. Normally he times his hacks, but given the circumstances he couldn't have been bothered to this time. His focus slips to the screen and he starts to navigate his way to the files he wants, whatever it is they're actually supposed to be called.

"A day? You've gotta be kidding me! You hacked the Batterwitch's mainframe while on the run, in _a day?_ What motivated you to do _that_?" Lalonde returns and plops back down on the couch. Aradia leans over and listens intently to the conversation. Karkat groans and mutters something about people needing to shut up so he can pretend that sleep is actually an option for him. Sollux ignores this of course.

"I needed to see if there was any info on my dad and brother. I figured since he is friends with Miss M then maybe they were in this whole...," He searches for the right word to describe Miss M's job, and what might have possibly been his dad's.

"You're Psii's kid, right?" Lalonde asks, to which he nods in return. "Yeah he's a medic for the Resistance. I don't know where he or your brother are though. Pretty sure the hag doesn't have them, so they should be fine."

The statement only makes him feel marginally better, but leaves him with a ton of questions. He clicks on a file and it opens for him. It looks like a list of suspected and confirmed members of the Resistance, including if they're in custody or not. Sollux's brow furrows as he wonders how it is the Queen got a hold of this kind of information. To increase his worry, he and his friends are near the top of this list with a big red label reading: **WANTED**.

"I've got to say that what you've done is stupid and risky, but _damn_ nice work kid. I've only managed to get in the system once. Unfortunately I was drunk off my ass so I can't trace my path to remember how I did it. Here lemme see your computer again," He hands her his computer and she connects it to hers with a white cord. A program with a familiar logo, a circle that isn't closed spiraling outwards, pops up and he swears that his heart nearly stops from sheer excitement.

" _Holy shit no fucking way!_ " he breathes, reaching up with one hand to latch onto Aradia's arm and the other to slap Karkat in a spaztastic motion. A huge grin cracks against his will and he feels the kind in a candy store euphoria build up and spill out of him.

"Uh...what?" Lalonde looks at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

"Dammit Sollux chill out and stop hitting me!" Karkat snaps, shoving his hand away only to have it come back and keep hitting him.

"It's Rogue! You're Rogue! KK it's Rogue _ohmygod I can't believe I've been talking to Rogue without realizing it!_ " He takes a deep breath and tries to reign in the enthusiasm. He fails hardcore.

"Rogue? Who's Rogue?" Sollux gasps and turns to his friend with a look of horror on his face.

"You did _not_ just ask me who Rogue is. Tell me I do not have to beat you senseless for that," Sollux says seriously, entering full on geek mode. "Who's Rogue? _Who's Rogue?!_ Rogue is the most legendary motherfucking hacker on this planet! Rogue can wreck up your shit and you wouldn't even know it until it's too late! KK I thought I raised you better than this!"

"Raised me? All you've done is raised a headache, asshole," Karkat shoves Sollux's hand away again, which Sollux also ignores. He turns back around to face a now thoroughly bemused Roxy Lalonde. Sollux pats himself down frantically and curses his lack of signable material.

"Fuck it, will you sign my shirt?" Sollux stretches out his TECH shirt in offering to his idol. Roxy stares in complete surprise before bursting out in laughter.

"Hell yeah I'll sign your shirt! Where the hell did I put my sharpie?" Roxy stands up again, still laughing. Sollux gets up to follow her around. Karkat and Aradia move to follow him. All in all there's a lot of following going on.

"Since when do you have a sharpie meant for signing pubescent teenage boys shirts?" They all turn to see Dirk walking into the room shoving a sandwich into his mouth, Nepeta trailing along happily at his side and doing pretty much exactly the same thing.

"Since just barely, and hey kiddo what are you doing up?" Roxy hunts for a sharpie in a cabinet. Nepeta tries to respond but all that comes out of her mouth is a bunch of mumbled nonsense and crumbs.

Sollux hears Equius sit up and chastise the little girl. "Miss Nepeta, don't talk with food in your mouth please."

"Aha! Found one!" Roxy straightens out triumphantly and holds up a sharpie like it's a wand. She uncaps it and turns around, prepared to sign a shirt which he has stretched and ready to go. She bends down and scrawls a loopy _Rogue_ as her signature and adds a little winky face. Sollux stops breathing altogether.

"Do you need me to hold your hand Sollux? You looking pretty faint man," Karkat places a hand on his shoulder and snickers in a teasing manner and Sollux snaps out of it, admiring the signature on his shirt. "Geez, who knew you were such a closet case. You're more hopeless than I thought."

"Shut up KK."

* * *

 **NEPETA:**

Nepeta settles herself down on a chair and watches as everyone converges around the computers. They're all pretty happy right now, because of how silly Sollux had been. She hopes that everyone can stay happy, even as they look at the pictures on the screen which she isn't allowed to participate in.

Sollux had apparently done something very bad though. He hacked into the Queen's mainframe. But it was also very good? Everyone is being so confusing on the matter. Nepeta can't say much on the matter, so she keeps quiet and to herself. The problem with that is sometimes her thoughts aren't very nice anymore.

"Well, this is definitely problematic, you guys being on top of the wanted list," Miss Roxy huffs. "And that's saying a lot considering that there are actually quite a few people on that list who she wants dead or alive."

Dead or alive?! Which did the Queen want with them? Hopefully alive. And the same for Mommy too. Nepeta cringes slightly at the thought of someone wanting her Mommy dead. It's bad enough that Mommy is captured.

"It looks like for now Kan's just in custody. Supposedly the news say she's gonna get a trial, but I don't think that's gonna happen until after the Queen thinks she's won."

What if the Queen _does_ win? What will happen to Mommy then? A shiver runs down her spine and the worry for her Mommy increases greatly. And what about her? And her friends? What will the Queen do to them? She doesn't want to be placed in a factory to work (she has heard that is something that happens to children punished by the Queen). What if something even _worse_ than that happens?

"Oh woah hold it, go back up," She looks up, hearing Mr. Dirk's voice. He's pointing at the screen, his posture going very rigid.

" _Shit_ ," The word comes out of both him and Miss Roxy like air rushing out of a balloon. Miss Roxy teeters and grips the back of the couch so tightly that her knuckles turn white. Her other hand goes up to hide her face, and she lets go of the couch to walk away and stand by the window. Her shoulders shake silently. Mr. Dirk walks over to her and wraps his arms around her shoulders. She buries her face in him and a choked sob fills the chasm of silence the suddenly sprang up around them.

Nepeta strains to see what is on the computer which had upset Miss Roxy.

It's a picture of Mr. Egbert.

The words next to his name are too far and small for her to read, but she's good at picking up signals. Nepeta lowers her head and blinks rapidly to keep tears from coming. She had only met Mr. Egbert once, when he had stopped by to talk to Mommy on her sixth birthday, but she had really liked him. He was a silly cornball that was really nice and played games with her when she asked him to. It makes Nepeta sad because he didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him. Her chest starts to feel heavy, like it's filling up with water.

Mr. Dirk murmurs something to Miss Roxy and they pull away from each other, going back to the computer and blocking it from sight. There are a few more choice words from Mr. Dirk; something about his little brother. Finally they give up and change topics.

"We'll need to leave for London as soon as possible, when daybreak hits would be ideal," Mr. Dirk folds his arms across his broad chest. She watches as mostly everyone agrees with little head nods and such.

Mr. Equius clears his throat and the attention focuses on him. "While it's a good idea, I wish to not further involve Miss Nepeta in these matters any longer. It has become far too dangerous."

"Be that as it is what other choice do you have? It's dangerous no matter how you look at it because you are _all_ fugitives," Mr. Dirk has a fierce tone mixing into his voice, as if he's preparing to argue and win a fight. Nepeta cringes at the word fugitives, thinking that it's too harsh of a word. She doesn't like that word. It makes her sound like a bad guy, and her heart feels icky and jumpy at the thought because she _knows_ what real bad guys are like. Bad guys are people who would point guns and her Mommy and friends, and do all sorts of mean things to get what they want.

"Yeah, but she's only 7 and bringing her along any further on this goose chase for a vault is not something she needs to be a part of any longer," Mr. Karkat steps in, his voice tipping towards a shout and scaring her. "I mean for hell's sake do you know the emotional damage she's gone through already? She's not cut out for this! None of us are, really!"

It's true that she has been all over the place with her emotions, and it made her tummy ache and made her sick, but she thought she had been strong regardless. Is Mr. Karkat saying she's too weak to help Mommy? The watery feeling in her chest rose and she starts to breath just a little harder. She doesn't want them to be arguing about her! She's good and reliable! She'll be strong and help her Mommy, she has to. Mommy entrusted _her_ with this mission; Mommy gave _her_ the key. These thoughts are making her feel light headed.

"And where are you guys gonna go if you split up? You guys are wanted here, that means eyes are everywhere and practically always watching unless you know just how to avoid them," Miss Roxy quietly jumps into the argument. Nepeta realizes that while she has been thinking she's missed something. But it's apparent the argument is still about her. She looks down and tries to focus on keeping calm while words run through one ear and out the other. The feeling in her chest is practically drowning her and she wants to cry because it hurts so bad. She squeezes Miss Dutchess tightly, silently begging the stuffed toy to help her.

"Guys stop it, we're scaring her," Suddenly the conversation is cut off. Big hands wrap around her shoulders and she's pulled in for a hug. Nepeta breathes heavily, and she feels herself being picked up. She moves her face to bury her face in the crook of the helper's neck. A few tears slip out and she shudders, slinging her arms over his (for they are very big) shoulders. They move and she focuses on the gentle way his body rocks.

" 'S alright Wild Cat. Have you ever seen the inside of a cockpit, you know, where they control and fly the plane?" Mr. Dirk murmurs softly into her ear, petting her hair. She shakes her head and looks up just a little with blurry eyes. Mr. Dirk gives a half grin. "Well let's go take a look then. I think you'll find it's pretty cool."

Nepeta nods and sniffles, the edgy feeling starting to drain away just a little. Mr. Dirk begins to walk away. She rests her cheek on his shoulder and hiccups, a couple more tears slipping out and falling onto Mr. Dirk's back. Before they leave she catches sight of something on Sollux's computer. It's big, blocky, red word the says: **SUBMIT**.

She blinks in shock but the words are gone. A shudder runs through her and her eyelids droop just a little. It has to be because of how tired she is. Just her imagination. A trick of the light and her tears. Nothing but that. She shouldn't be getting scared over nothing, and working herself up again. The two of them disappear around a corner and the word is put far from her mind as Mr. Dirk begins to tell her some more stories about him and his little brother.

* * *

 **ROXY:**

She turns back to the teenagers after watching Dirk leave with the kiddo and sighs. "While I understand where you guys are coming from you have to realize that doing things like this doesn't help her either. I realize that I'm at fault here too, and so does Dirk, but we should actually consider including her opinions on the matter of herself.

"I still say that she's safer staying with you guys, with _us_ , as a whole over splitting up. And once we're in a different country the Batterwitch will have a harder time pulling her strings because not everywhere is under he control just yet. Places that are either communistic or under a hierarchy ruler don't do well with crazy Queen's like her trying to take charge."

The kids remain silent and she sighs again, looking down at the computer screen. Her chest tightens when her gaze lands on the photo of John. His raven dark hair still looks like a mess, cute buck teeth poke out and makes his quirky grin seem more charming, and those transfixing blue eyes... _God_ did she love his eyes. The word **TERMINATED** by his name makes her feel like she's been shot. Her throat feels dry, and the idea of taking a drink to wash away all these feelings is a dangerously tempting one.

She shoves the idea away harshly. John wouldn't be happy if he knew she broke her sobriety record because of him. And that alone is reason enough to not cave in.

"Well," she awkwardly breaks the silence. "Who else wants to go look at the plane?"

It's written all over their faces that that's the last thing they want to be doing, but she isn't having any of it. No one's gonna be feeling down right now. Not on her watch. She starts walking out of the room. Just like she anticipates, Sollux follows after her, and with him everyone else falls in line.

They walk in silence, almost. Mostly it's just her and Sollux that talk. He had started asking her questions about her hacks. Roxy is grateful for the distraction, and answers everything as animatedly and enthusiastically as she possibly can without seeming like she's forcing it. She thinks it's kind of nice to be looked up to, especially since he's worshiping her over her lesser known title.

They step outside and round a corner, walking onto the airfield that's behind her house rather than a pool. The small plane is already out of the hangar and waiting with its door open and the lights on. Dirk and Nepeta wave from the windows of the cockpit and she waves back with a small grin. It's cute how the two of them get along. Roxy jogs up to the plane, grabbing the railing of the steps and hoisting herself up and into the aircraft, ducking so she doesn't hit her head. She maneuvers to the doorway of the cockpit and knocks on the frame.

"And what do our pilots have to say about this flight?" She watches the little girl turn around with an excited grin, noting that she looks much better.

"Smooth sailing!" she giggles. Dirk bonks her softly on the head.

"Wrong mode of transportation Wild Cat, but good try."

Sollux and Aradia step next to her and peek into the room. Roxy turns and smirks at the boy. "Think you could hack into a plane and fly it?"

He gapes at her in shock, pushing up his nifty 3-D glasses. "Have _you_?"

"Nope, but now we're gonna have to test it out, hold that thought!" She grins and turns to go, but has another idea. "Dirk, introduce them to Lil' Hal."

An annoyed frown tugs at the corners of his lips. "Do I have to?"

"Who's Lil' Hal?" Sollux, Nepeta, and Aradia ask simultaneously. Roxy stares at Dirk, wiggling her eyebrows to show that now he has no choice. Dirk sighs in defeat and turns to get a program running. She laughs and skips out of the plane, taking another light jog back to her manor.

It's quiet inside, which suddenly feels unusual. Though those kids have been here for, what a couple hours?, they seemed to make the place louder. It honestly does not help that usually this place is almost always empty anyways. Still, she can't help but have a slight chill at how freaky it is.

She turns a corner and enters the room that's meant for the boys. On the little table are her and Sollux's computers, but it seems like something's wigging out. Frowning, she hurries over to figure out what's going on.

Immediately she hones in on the fact that her Defense Shield is dominating her screen. She quickly disconnects her laptop from Sollux's and taps in several commands to debug her computer. The she turns to the other laptop and starts to figure out what the hell is going on.

The screen pixelates and loathsome block letters flash in place. **SUBMIT. OBEY. SUBMIT. OBEY.** It's practically the Batterwitch's logo, and it seems that his computer has caught her virus. Furiously she starts pounding in commands to try and save the boy's computer, but she knows that unless she catches some sort of lucky break his device is toast. It's been like this for too long already.

Another message flashes on the screen.

 **FOUND YOU**

"Shit," She slams the computer shut and grabs her own. Roxy turns around only to find the barrel of a gun pointing at her face. The blonde holding it is none other than the owner of Serket Corp., Vriska.

"Where are the kids, Lalonde? Answer quickly, I don't have the time or patience to deal with riddles right now," Though the other woman is trying to look smug about her victory, it's painfully obvious she's impatient and frustrated.

"Sorry Serket but they're just leaving," Roxy ducks, smacking Vriska's hand up and knocking the gun away from her. She pivots and roundhouse kicks the other woman, causing her to fall backwards. Quickly she takes off, sprinting like she's got the hounds of hell after her. An enraged should echoes in the halls.

Roxy swings around a corner and the wall just above her head explodes. Cursing, she scans the area for those damn droids. There are about 3 of them marching in formation from the opposite side of the foyer with guns locked and loaded.

She charges them, dodging and weaving so they can't get a clear shot. She dives and knocks them down like bowling pins. In seconds she wrestles a gun away from the one she landed on and shoots the machine in the face. Turning, she takes care of the other two quickly before getting up, snatching their guns, and running outside. At that same moment several black SUVs swerve into view and onto the air strip. She hears the planes engines start up and she kicks up the pace just a notch. Already her lungs are on fire, short bursts of gasping fits excluded.

Roxy sees the little lights flashing from the SUVs and she drops like a stone. She winces as her ribs and chest make not so pleasant contact with the ground, and even more as she hears her computer scrape harshly along the asphalt. She wriggles forward as the bullets fly long, whistling above her. She makes it to the ladder, pulling herself up and ducking as she runs up each step.

To her dismay Sollux is at the door to pull her in instead of Dirk. She guesses though that he's trying to get the plane running so they can bust this joint. Roxy hands the computer to Sollux. The plane starts to move and the door screeches angrily along the ground. Roxy fires a couple of rounds at the circling SUVs. Her targets are hit, but just barely. They swerve and crash into each other which is hella good enough for her.

She turns back around and grins at the boy. His return is shaky and he gestures for her to get in so the door can be put up. Roxy takes a step forward and feels fire flare painfully in her abdomen. Sollux's eyes widen in shock and she looks down to see a crimson rose blossoming on her shirt.

"Oh god, Roxy!" Sollux tries to reach out but she shoves him back, stumbling away herself.

"The computer's yours now kid," She gasps. "Tell Dirk I'm not making the trip this time."

Clutching her side she turns around and stumbles down the steps of the moving aircraft. She knows that there's not anything in the first aid kit that'll help her. She'll bleed out before they get to London. Hell, they might not get to London if something isn't done about those damn droids! Someone's gotta give them the headway they need, so it might as well be her.

Roxy trips off the steps and raises her guns, now both hands are free. Time to give some hell back where Karma missed on her rounds. She catches sight of Vriska storming out onto the airfield, the droids popping out of their crashed vehicles like ants with guns. She sets off and starts firing. The return fire is a bitch to dodge, but oh the rush! Just like old times!

Something brushes past her and the next thing she knows is that there are a few robots with missing heads. Dirk materializes at her side. Behind her the plane keeps moving.

"Didn't think I'd just let you fend off these assholes on your own, did ya?" Dirk flashes his signature cocky half smirk before turning back to face the enemies. "Lil' Hal is giving Captor and Megido flying lessons, but he'll get them out."

A dangerous grin, the kind that borderlines insanity and pure joy, crawls up her face. The kids are gonna be safe. That's all that matters, so all they have to do is keep it that way.

"Just like old times, right?"

"Do you want Spider-Bitch or do I get her?"

"Tag team."

"No mercy."

"Done."

They bump fists and place one foot in the grave with grins like maniacs.

* * *

 **KARKAT:**

"Woah, woah, woah! Sol what the hell are you doing?!" he yells as the plane lurches forward. Equius ushers Nepeta into a seat before moving to bring in the stairs. Bullets ricochet off the plane and Equius flinches each time, still reeling the ladder in.

"I'm getting us the fuck out of here!" Sollux yells back. Aradia is beside him frantically pushing buttons according to a robotic jackass's instructions.

"You can't just leave them behind though!" Karkat gestures angrily to the people they are leaving behind.

"I know that! Do you think I want to? For hell's sake I saw my _idol_ get shot, KK! But Dirk said go so we're going!" Sollux actually sounds close to tears. Karkat swallows hard and clenches his hands into tight fists at his side.

"Karkat," Aradia turns around briefly in her seat. "They're staying behind on purpose so we can do _our_ job. Let them do theirs."

He takes a deep, shuddering breath and turns around. "Fuck this!"

Karkat stomps over and sits down by Nepeta. The little girl is sitting on her knees with her face practically plastered against the window. He looks through the one next to it and watches a gun-sword fight. He's always been told to never bring a knife (sword in this case) to a gun fight, yet Dirk Strider seems to just throw that rule right out of the goddamn figurative window like it's a piece of garbage.

The plane picks up speed and Equius finally manages to get the door shut, locking it so it will pressurize the cabin. His neck starts to hurt from craning it around Nepeta, so he gets up and moves back a row to do basically the same thing as the little girl.

Slowly it dawns on him that the fight unfolding behind him is a losing one. Roxy tosses aside both her guns in frustration and ducks to avoid getting hit. Unfortunately she's been clipped on the shoulder, and with some other wound hindering her, her movements are turning sluggish. She reaches for another gun by one of the fallen Lowry droids and she struggles to her knees, firing a few rounds. The plane bumps and jostles as Sollux tries to lift up. Faintly he can hear that program called Lil' Hal chide him by spewing out a bunch of different speeds and things like thrust equaling pull.

Meanwhile Dirk is being forced back. It's not long until they're practically side by side with droids circling around them. A blonde haired broad, the same one he had seen interrogating Miss Maryam no less, pushes into the circle and points a gun at the duo. A panic so fierce surges through him as he pinpoints the path the bullet will take, right to the woman struggling to get off the ground.

The plane jolts again and he's thrown off balance, slamming the divider on his window shut in the process. Nepeta lets out a yelp and he looks back up at her, amazed that she's still upright. Big, fat tears well in the corners of her horror stricken green eyes. He stands up and and pulls her away from the window, burying her face in her chest as he slams down that divider too.

Above the noise of the plane he hears what sounds like the loudest gunshot of them all. Nepeta chokes into his shirt and he lifts her over the seat, sitting down heavily as the plane tilts up more and more. In front of him Equius holds onto the walls with a look of blank shock dominating his features. In the cockpit Sollux finally breaks down and Aradia leans over to hug him. Inside of him his heart pounds madly. Behind him is a trail he knows is stained deeply, and will never be wiped clean.


	11. Calling in Resources

_Falconface, I'm sad to say that until the end it's only going to get much, much worse for these guys. I've got quite a few more devious things plotted out and I intend to go through with them despite the impending doom I may receive from one of my friends in particular XD. On another note, hope you enjoy the feels! *shoves them at you and runs away*_

* * *

 **Name:** Dirk Strider (in custody)

 **Age:** 28

 **Occupation:** Martial Artist/Kendo Instructor

 **Status:** Stripped

 **Relationships:** N/A

 **Family:** younger brother; Dave Strider (in custody)

 **Threat Level:** Dangerous; Contained

* * *

 **Name:** Roxy Lalonde ( **TERMINATED** )

 **Age:** 27

 **Occupation:** Fashion Designer; side- Hacker; alias ROGUE

 **Status:** Stripped

 **Relationships:** John Egbert ( **TERMINATED** )

 **Family:** younger sister; Rose Lalonde (missing)

 **Threat Level:** Non-existent

* * *

 **VRISKA:**

She slams the door on the half unconscious blonde man, enraged. Those brats have gotten away _again_. The first time she had just considered them lucky, but now this is becoming infuriatingly ridiculous.

"Ma'am, what do you want us to do with the body?" She turns to face one of those _fucking_ droids with a snarl. It doesn't react. It merely blinks blankly and waits for her command.

"Ask the _Queen_ , not me you useless piece of scrap metal," She whirls around on her heels and stalks off. On her way she passes the limp and bloodied body of Roxy Lalonde. Vriska averts her gaze to avoid looking at the bloodstained beauty. She doesn't particularly enjoy the act of killing itself, but most times she finds that she traps herself to the point where she has no choice. In this case she can claim self-defense, but what good will that do? The image of death is still on fresh on her mind now, and forever will be.

And it won't do her any good to forget. There's also the matter in which she now has to consider the wrath that will be brought upon her by the other Lalonde, Rose.

Vriska allows a slight shudder to pass through her. _I don't want to be anywhere locate-able when that woman finds out about her sister._

A droid stops her in her tracks, tossing the foreboding thoughts clear out of her mind for a moment. "Ms. Serket, about the children-"

Vriska scowls and cuts it off. "Can it you hunk of junk! I don't want to talk about those brats with _any_ of you. This is the **FOURTH** time in a consecutive row that they have escaped with **YOUR** services employed. Tell Her Majesty that I'm calling in _my_ people like now, like I wanted to from _the start_."

She shoves past the droid and stalks as far away from the whole group as much as possible. It's amazing that she's been able to work with the blasted things from the start, but she had no choice because of the Queen saying that they were _sooo_ reliable. What a bunch of horse shit. The only thing they are good for is monitoring things. _I mean, they've let KIDS get away for hell's sake! How is that reliable?!_

Once Vriska is certain that she's alone and won't be interrupted she whips her phone out of her coat pocket and dials a number. She puts the receiver to her ear and listens to the line ring. The night around her is already showing signs of fading, and the chill of mid-winter season is finally catching up with her. It's exhausting.

If she can't capture those rotten children by the Queen's normal means, then she will use _her_ means. And her means are guaranteed to bring her success.

* * *

 **TEREZI:**

When the phone had started ringing she had been fast asleep, thus able to ignore it as background noise to her dreams. It was when her partner started to hit her awake that she couldn't ignore it anymore, and _that_ irritated her.

Groaning she sits up, the partially thick blanket sliding off of her and letting the cold air of the room assault her bare skin. She shivers and rubs her eyes to make herself feel more alert.

"Answer the motherfuckin' phone," her partner growls sleepily.

She growls back with a sharp edge to her voice, "Isn't it supposed to be on _your_ side of the bed?"

"If it was we wouldn't be having this goddamn conversation, now would we?"

Hissing softly, Terezi leans over and paws along the nightstand in hunt for the phone. Her hand bumps into something hard and vibrating and she wraps her hand around it. Bringing it to her ear she hits the button to make it shut up and answer the call. Whoever is calling her better have something important to say, otherwise she's gonna raise hell for being woken up.

" **What**?" she snaps.

" _I've got a job for you._ "

Terezi freezes at the sound of the familiar voice. Slowly she swings her legs out of bed and leans forward like she intends to get up. Her partner senses the shift and wraps his annoyingly strong arms around her waist, warning her to not get out of bed.

"Vriska? Do you know what time it is?" she asks incredulously, not actually aware of the time herself.

"Almost a quarter to 4," her partner mumbles, tracing circles along her hips lazily.

" _It doesn't matter the time_ ," Vriska says in aggravation. Well guess that could make three of them. " _What matters is that I need someone that's not a damn droid and actually competent enough that they can bring in some fucking fugitives!_ "

Vriska's voice rises with each word and by the end she's loud enough that Terezi has to pull the phone away from her ear to retain her hearing. A few choice words echo through the receiver before the line goes quiet.

Finally deeming it safe for her ears she puts the receiver back in its place and answers. "Alright, start from the top. What do you need?"

Vriska takes a deep breath before responding slowly, fully aware that she can just go into another rant at any second. "There are some kids the Queen wants, on in particular. You remember Kanaya, right?"

Confused, Terezi gives a short ' _yeah_ ' in response.

" _She's a confirmed traitor with valuable secrets dealing with the Resistance. The Queen thinks those secrets are contained in Maryam's vault, but she needs to know where that vault_ is. _The only way to properly ensure anything comes out of that woman's mouth is to use her kid against her._ "

"I'm assuming this is where you want me to come in and track the kid down?"

" _Exactly. The only problem is they just flew off and are somewhere over the ocean right now. But like I told Kanaya, I know who she trusts in the fashion industry,_ " Vriska chuckles darkly. " _I'm at the Lalonde residence right now. Their only other ally they can go to that's overseas is a certain Brit. You remember Ampora too, right?_ "

"Ugh," Terezi wrinkles her nose in disgust. There's no way she can ever forget the smell of his cloying and expensive cologne. Or the fact that he had hit on her a couple of times. Though she will admit he had been rather clever about it.

" _Good, then you know where to go now,_ " Vriska is starting to sound like this closes the matter, but Terezi isn't done yet.

"Hold on Vriska, what's in it for me?" Her partner clears his through and she rolls her eyes. " _Us_."

" _Us? Terezi, don't tell me you're still with that creep._ "

"Shut up Vriska, it's not like you've got any room to talk. Answer the damn question," While it's true that her relationship with her partner is rather...strenuous, she can't deny that is isn't all terrible. For instance, she doesn't know if he actually is ugly or not, so it's not like she has to care about appearances. And he's really good at doing his part of the job-their job; bounty hunting. And the side perks aren't all that bad either, he does know how to have _fun_.

" _Look, we'll hash out the details after you bring in the brats. But I'm just going to say the sooner that happens the bigger your bonus will be plus your usual pay."_

Terezi sits stock still and debates. Under normal circumstances she doesn't take S rated bounty hunts, the kind that the Queen usually sets out. She doesn't like the trouble associated with those ones in particular; it's always a hassle with all that official paperwork and shit. She and her partner both stick mainly to A rank and under bounties, usually just your average hardcore criminal or serial killer. And if she picks up this task Vriska is offering that means she's gonna have to drop the hunt on the Midnight Crew. She know _that_ will most likely piss off her partner.

But on the other hand this task is really just picking up a few run away kids that are in a way linked to the Resistance. She's heard that the bounties for those kinds of people rack in a _ton_ of mula. Put that on top of the bonus + regular pay Vriska is talking about and they'll be set for a while. And besides, they're just kids so this should be a pretty quick and easy hunt.

Taking a deep breath she says with a grumble, "Alright, fine."

Vriska sighs in relief. "Much appreciated, Pyrope."

"Whatever, I'm still pissed at you," She tries to sound angry, but this _is_ her best friend after all. Vriska chuckles lightly before hanging up. Terezi ends the call on her end of the line and puts the phone back on the nightstand. She pinches the bridge of her nose and rubs her eyes- her entire face actually- with a groan.

Then she turns and slaps her partner on the shoulder and he grunts. "Get up Makara, we've got work to do."

* * *

 _Heh heh heh :3 I know that Gamrezi isn't really popular and that it's actually one of the worst ships just because it's abusive but I think it works for the setting of this story so nyeh. Stay in tune because next chapter's gonna be... **slicey dicey.**_


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